Done For
by PurdyBaby
Summary: Inuyasha's sick as a dog so he pushes Kagome away and hard. Will Kagome realize the truth before it's too late? COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Done For**

"Just fucking go home! Kikyo can find the jewel shards just as well as you! I don't need you here! Just leave!" Inuyasha bellowed as he towered over the young woman from the future. It had been a shit day filled with pain, fear and mind games but that didn't excuse the word vomit pouring out of his mouth. This was the final straw. That _stupid_ bitch had almost died trying to save _him_ yet again for no fucking reason and he'd had it. He was _done_ living in fear that she'd be taken away from him in a way more permanent than the well. He was _done_ feeling guilty that he'd failed to protect yet another woman that he loved. He was _done_ knowing she'd throw her life away for him when he was dying _anyway_. He was just fucking _done_.

And so, he made a decision. If she was too stupid to leave, then he'd make her wish she'd never fallen down that well and no amount of pain in her eyes was going to make him back down.

"Yeah, the truth hurts doesn't it? You don't mean shit to me so take your holier than now attitude and your constantly complaining ass down the well and _never_ come back!" he taunted in the cruelest voice he could muster under the circumstances. Inuyasha's resolve wavered at the sight of her normally rosy skin paling to a sickly green and the total betrayal in her eyes but he managed to muster a cold, superior glare.

"I…I thought we were friends. Why…why are you saying this?" she whimpered softly as she tried to reach for him only to snatch her hand back when he made a half-hearted swipe at it and growled.

"You thought _wrong_ ," the hanyou hissed before delivering the final blow, "You make me _sick_. You don't think I see how you look at me? Little girl, there's a time and place for a crush but this ain't it. I'm not interested. Never will be. So **_go_**. Run back home like a good little girl."

Tears welled in the corner of her sapphire blue eyes, and his heart wrung painfully in his chest at the look she gave him. He never wanted her to fear him but…but if that's what it took to get her to leave then so be it. He only had so much time before the sickness raging inside took him and he wasn't going to let her stay around to fucking watch or throw her life away when there was no fucking point. When she failed to move, he bared his teeth and growled. Grimacing inwardly at her involuntary step away from him, he continued to aggressively advancing towards her until her back hit the well's lip.

"Go. _Fucking_. **_Home_**!" Inuyasha bellowed as he pushed her forcibly over the lips edge. With a scream she fell backwards as her pain striken eyes met his own until she disappeared in the strange blue light. The moment she vanished from sight, the strength from his legs gave out and he collapsed beside the well wondering if he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

* * *

This is my first fanfic and I want to make it a full story but I don't know whether it's any good. Please give feedback! ^.^


	2. Chapter 2

xxxxxxxx

 **Done For**

xxxxxxxx

The first few day of summer vacation had been _hell_. Grief that Kagome had managed to push to the back of her mind during the school year now washed over her in waves. It was grueling, it stole her appetite and sleep alike. What was once whole felt shattered; where once was peace was now only emptiness. It wasn't even just about Inuyasha. She missed them all like a drowning man misses oxygen and the longer she was away the more the void they had all left behind ate away at her very soul.

The three jewel shards she had sitting atop her desk served only as a cruel reminder of her months in the feudal area. The only thing that was proof, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it wasn't a dream. She'd sat there day after day since school let out staring at the offending bottle trying to convince herself that she _should_ go back and return them, even if that meant facing Inuyasha again.

Wait a minute…

Scrunching her brow for a minute as that thought sunk in, Kagome gasped as the realization hit her that Inuyasha wouldn't even _be_ in the village at all. He'd gone after Kikyo! She'd been worried about running into him all this time over nothing! All those wasted months when she could've been beside her friends! Smacking herself upside the head, Kagome grabbed the vial and threw it inside her worn yellow backpack that was still filled with all the necessities. She had never unpacked it. Unpacking would mean that she really never would go back and she just couldn't bear the thought.

Rushing outside, her heart beat wildly in her chest as she threw open the well house doors and quick as a flash, jumped into the bone eaters well.

xxxxxxxx

Kikyo watched the slayer, kit and the monk as they wandered through the forest. It had been months since she'd seen Inuyasha or her reincarnation accompanying them. Despite her general apathy and borderline hatred for both, she could help the growing knot in her stomach. Something was wrong. Pulling herself up to her full height, the dead miko took a deep breath and made her way towards the two who stopped dead in their tracks.

"I've come looking for Inuyasha," the miko began cooly, "Where is he?"

"Isn't he with _you_ , you frigid bitch!?" Sango spat back venomously earning surprised glances from both the monk and the young kit. The slayer's ire slowly turned into concern at the look of pure, unadulterated surprise that flickered across Kikyo's usual cold exterior before she composed herself again.

"I have not seen him in many moons now," Kikyo began slowly, a hint of worry in her tone, "Has he not been with you?"

Miroku and Sango exchanged a quick glance before shaking their heads. Taking a deep breath, Miroku cleared his throat and asked bluntly, "He told us he was joining you so we just assumed...are you _sure_ you haven't seen him?"

Kikyo furrowed her brow and shook her head almost imperceptibly before turning and silently walking away leaving the worried remnants of the inutaichi behind her.

Once the dead miko was out of sight, Sango turned to Miroku, worry evident on her face, "We need to go back to the village. Something's wrong here."

xxxxxxxx

Inuyasha sat at the very far end of the cave, back up against the damp stone wall, body aching, cheeks burning with the flush of fever. If pride would have allowed it, he would have cried for help, but there was no strength in his voice anymore, just a hoarse whisper. His breath quivered in short, quick gasps every time he inhaled, his lungs having no choice but to painfully and rigidly take in the thick, muggy air around him. He couldn't seem to stop shaking either. Sometimes it was rough, other times he could manage, but every time he'd get close to sleep, a new spell of violent shaking would force him awake.

"I'll get better. I'll get better," he lied to himself as he had for the past several months, feebly rubbing away at his arms in a sickly attempt to cease the unsettling chill that continued to run down his spine and made his skin crawl. Inuyasha knew he must look skeletal. Despite the knowledge that not eating would kill him as easily as the illness that was slowly sapping his strength, he couldn't keep anything down.

At first, he'd been able to hide it but these last few days, he'd taken a turn for the worse. He wasn't sure what it was. All he knew was that whatever this illness happened to be was the very same one that took his mother from him. She too had struggled with it for months before it took her. That's why he sent Kagome away. She would've stayed to care for him and she would have caught whatever the hell this was. Something that no amount of medicinal herbs or treatments could cure.

Still, he wished he hadn't sent her away. He didn't want to die alone and he sure as hell didn't want to die knowing that she hated him. Everyone who would've care if he died hated him anymore. No one was going to miss him and he didn't blame them. He did this to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

Tonight was the night Inuyasha knew he was going to die. It was that time of the month once again and in his current state, he knew there was no hope of survival. Still, he forced his weakened body to keep moving forward towards the only village that had ever felt like home. They wouldn't want to see him, that much he knew, but for whatever reason, he wanted his body to be found by people who wouldn't mutilate it. No matter how much they hated him in life, he knew in his heart they'd at least give him a proper burial. Still, the exertion of walking only brought on more breathlessness, like the air around him was somehow devoid of oxygen. He could feel his ribs heave up and down but no benefit came, only completely disorienting dizziness that called him to succumb into the darkness his body so desperately wanted to go.

As he finally managed to make it atop the hill overlooking the village, his vision blurred and he swayed dangerously as a coughing fit overcame him. Staring longingly at the village, tears welled in the corner of his amber eyes as the fit continued with a vengeance upon the realization that despite being _so_ close, he'd probably never make it.

 **XXXXX**

"What do you think happened to him?" Sango whispered anxiously over her shoulder as they flew towards the village, "Why would he send Kagome away? Why would he lie?"

Miroku shook his head and frowned, "I'm not sure. It's so unlike him. Perhaps we were too quick to judge. Did you notice anything strange before he left?"

"No, never. He seemed fine," Sango answered as she chewed the inside of her lip, "He didn't…"

"He smelled weird," Shippo piped up suddenly in an anxious voice that made a pit grow in his companions' stomachs, "He smelled…wait, **_look_**! There he is! There's **_Inuyasha_**!"

The inutaichi watched in horror as the hanyou below them suddenly bent over as sharply as if he'd been punched in the stomach, and drops of blood visibly spattered over the dust at his feet with each ragged cough that tore from his lungs. By slow, torturous degrees, the coughs seemed to ease in intensity and then slowly, _slowly_ passed. As Inuyasha raised his hand to wipe the blood from his mouth, he apparently caught their scent and whipped his head in their direction before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed onto the ground.

 **XXXXX**

As Kagome swung her leg over the edge of the well, she took a long, deep breath of the fresh, clean air. It was such a beautiful day and she was finally back where she belonged, Inuyasha be damned. Glancing around the familiar meadow, she adjusted her backpack and squared her shoulders. No matter what she faced when she got to the village, she wasn't about to let anything make her abandon the remaining friends she had left.

Speaking of the village, there seemed to be some type of commotion going on and she picked up her pace when she heard her friends' voice mixed in with the din. When the village came into view, she didn't have time to prepare for the small orange blur that collided with her chest which knocked the breath straight out of her.

" ** _KAGOME_**! You came back! Hurry, something's wrong with Inuyasha!" Shippo cried in a voice mixed with elation and terror as he desperately clung to Kagome's t-shirt.

"He's _still_ here?" Kagome blanched as she paled and seriously considered just handing the jewel shards to Shippo before running, "I thought…"

"I dunno what happened but he didn't go with Kikyo and he didn't stay here with us. He's been gone for months just like you!" Shippo breathed anxiously, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a rush. Giving her shirt a little tug, he turned a frantic glance at the village before turning watery eyes on Kagome, "But we found him today and he's sick. _Really_ sick. Come on!"

"He didn't…he never…wait, **_what_**?" Kagome spluttered softly as she stared towards the village, where it seemed a lot of people were evacuating with little more than the shirts on their back. Whatever he had must be something bad, _really_ bad.

"I don't know! He passed out almost immediately after we found him!" Shippo sobbed as he pulled a little more forcibly on Kagome before merely giving up on moving her and jumping down, ready to sprint towards the village with or without her. Kagome felt incredibly torn. On the one hand, Inuyasha had good as ripped her heart out with his bare hand. On the other…maybe he did that to keep her safe. Either way, he was a complete idiot and, even after all this time, he was _her_ idiot.

"Alright, I'm coming," Kagome answered firmly as she began to run towards the village. _Oh, Inuyasha…please be alright._


	4. Chapter 4

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha's heart beat unsteadily in his chest as his eyesight blurred, but not because tears were welling up. Everything became increasingly fuzzy…and then _miraculously_ he caught the scent of his former friends. For a split second he saw them and then he saw nothing at all.

Consciousness came in waves as he floated through an empty space filled with a thick static. He could feel someone grabbing his body, probably Miroku based on the muddled scent he could still pick up through his congested nose. Throughout the inky space, his heart pounded loudly, echoing in his ears, alongside the sound of fading pleas from his friends to stay with them.

Feeling in his body drained away until finally all was black and he knew no more.

 **XXXXX**

As she looked upon the man who couldn't _possibly_ be the same one she had left some months prior, Kagome could feel the sweat drenching her skin, the throbbing of her own eyes as she fought back tears, and the thudding of her heart against her rib cage. Her fingers were curled into a fist, nails digging into her palm. She couldn't hear her rapid breathing, but she could feel the oxygen flooding in and out of her lungs. Fear tortured her guts, churning her stomach in tense cramps. Fear engulfs her conscience, knocking all other thoughts aside. Fear overwhelmed her body, making it drastically exhausted. However, most of all, the fear made her calm and that is what scared her the most.

"What's wrong with him?" the miko whispered as she knelt next to the old woman furiously mixing various concoctions that she believed may at least ease his suffering.

"He has consumption. It certainly has struck fear into the hearts of many who have seen such symptoms before. Ye and the others should leave with haste. I am old and have lived a good life. I'll stay, " Kaede responded in a low, worried tone, "He's a fool to have gone on his own and to have forced ye to leave."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed as she glanced over her shoulder at the hanyou, her eyes lingering on the blood trickling steadily from the corner of his mouth, "But he's here now. He's strong. He'll…he'll survive."

Kaede gave the young woman a look of pure pity before shaking her head and focusing her energy back onto the potions, "The boy has let it go on too long. Ye may need to prepare for the worst. Tonight is the night of the new moon."

Kagome paled visibly as a wave of shame hit her. She had stopped keeping track of the lunar cycle and it hadn't even crossed her mind that such a thing would potentially be a problem. But…if he was human…

"I need to take him to my time," Kagome whispered urgently, "He'll look human so I can probably get him to the healer in my time and find out what's going on."

"Are ye mad?!" Kaede spluttered as she dropped the clay bowl in her hand, not even reacting when it smashed to bits upon the floor, "He will only be human for the night, he will certainly pass it to ye and his maladies are far too severe to have him moved!"

"That something that they vaccinate...uh they do prevention for...in my time. I'll be fine and I'll…my grandpa knows a doctor…a _healer_ who's been covering for me in my time," Kagome responded thickly as she bit her lip, "At the very least, I can probably get him some antibiotics and some fluids or _something_. I don't think herbs and potions are going to cut it. Not tonight."

 **XXXXX**

The ceiling above him flickered in and out of view just enough for him to realize that he wasn't in the hut any longer. It looked familiar but in his fevered state, he couldn't seem to remember _why_. Casting a half-seeing glance at his arm, his brow furrowed in confusion at the weird instrument currently sticking out of the crook of his elbow. It was attached to some kind of clear tube looking thing that then was attached to…a _bag_ of some kind. In any other situation, he would have ripped that straight out of his arm but he couldn't find the strength within him to mess with it. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for just a moment before they flew open in alarm. He was in _Kagome's_ room which meant she was nearby and…and where the _fuck_ were his clothes?! What the _hell_ was he wearing and how the _fuck_ did he end up **_here_**?! He needed to leave…he needed to protect her…he'd never forgive himself if she got sick too.

Gingerly, he tried to force himself to sit up when suddenly a pair of cold hands touched his flushed bare chest pushing him back down against the pillow as though he were a small child, which irked him to no end but really, he couldn't find it in himself to fight her. _She_ had found him. Of _all_ the people in the world, _Kagome_ had found him and apparently had taken it upon herself to take care of him in his final hours...just like he knew she would. A warm elated feeling grew in his painful chest despite himself and he fought back the grin that threatened to break free.

"Inuyasha, don't get up," Kagome's sweet voice soothingly cooed as the back of her hand gently stroked his cheek and for the first time in months, he felt a wave of calm wash over him. Closing his eyes, a single tear trickled down his face as he leaned into her touch and allowed himself to succumb to the darkness where he so desperately wanted to go as she continued to whisper words of comfort, "You're safe. I've got you. You're going to be alright."


	5. Chapter 5

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"Is that…is that the _same_ boy from last night?" the doctor whispered quietly to Kagome's grandfather, "I could've sworn he had black hair and brown eyes."

"Oh my yes, that's the same boy," the grandfather laughed, "We're just old my friend. Our memories aren't what they used to be."

"Well, he has advanced tuberculosis and based on the symptoms you gave me, most likely meningitis as well," the doctor sighed as he held up the chart, "This means at _least_ four months of intense antibiotic treatment which luckily can be administered via home care as you requested. However, his illness has progressed to such a degree that all the treatment in the world might not be able to save him. You need to prepare for the worst."

Kagome's grandfather hummed affirmatively as he cast a worried glance at the sleeping boy on her granddaughter's bed. Despite him being a demon, that boy had saved Kagome and kept her safe too many times to count so his past behavior completely forgiven under the circumstances. It was only right that he return the favor.

"I'm curious where he contracted it," the doctor mused casually as he glanced at his chart, "You say you don't know but It's not a common disease in Japan. Has he traveled out of the country recently?"

Grandfather shook his head and shrugged, "I'll ask Kagome about that. Perhaps she knows."

"It's not unusual for TB to stay latent. He might have been exposed some time ago," the doctor mused, "Ask him next time he wakes up about any travel he may have done as a child. I'm going to prescribe you all some antibiotics as a preventive since you are insisting he stay here _against_ medical advice. Make sure all of you wear face masks as well as an added precaution."

"Thank you," Kagome's grandfather responded good naturedly, concealing the worry in his voice expertly, "Let me know the schedule of treatments, will you, so we know when to expect you."

The doctor nodded solemnly as he turned and prepared to leave.

 **XXXXX**

"You knew you were sick when you pushed me down the well didn't you?" Kagome whispered gently as she ran her fingers gingerly through his sweat dampened mane. Sighing heavily, Inuyasha opened his mouth to respond when his body was racked with painful sounding coughs, splattering droplets of blood over his hand. Looking wearily at the small red dots covering his palm, he frowned and averted his eyes, "You say you can't get this because of your future medicine or whatever but...what if you're _wrong_?"

"People don't die from that in Japan anymore. We have treatment and medicine we are given as children to make sure we don't get it," she chided gently, her voice somewhat muffled from the mask covering her mouth, "Not that you would've known that. I understand why you did what you did. You had to push me away and **_hard_** because you knew I'd stay if you told me the truth."

Inuyasha nodded weakly, grimacing as his head pounded painfully from the movement. Clenching his eyes shut, he whispered anxiously as he held his hand to his throbbing temple, "This…this killed my mother you know. Whatever _this_ is...it took out half the castle and...and they blamed me for it. I didn't want…if you…"

"I get it. Really I do," Kagome soothed as she rubbed lightly at his chest in an attempt to ease some of the pain as another coughing fit overtook him, "You don't have to explain anything. I forgive you."

Inuyasha gave Kagome a relieved but pained smile as he fought to catch his breath once more and tried to ignore the sharp pain in his skull. He felt pathetic but he wasn't going to lie. He kinda _liked_ being babied, especially when it was Kagome cooing over him and touching him ever so lightly in a way that really did ease some of the pain. Just hours ago, or was it yesterday, he thought he was going to die but instead this mysterious girl from the future with all her modern medicinal herbs was going to bring him back from the brink, come hell or high water. It was times like these when he could pretend she really loved him, just as he was.

"I know it sounds messed up, but that look you just gave me was really adorable," Kagome teased lightly as reached up to scratch the base of his ears. The miko knew he was too weak to fight back so she was going to take advantage of that fact.

"Hey! I ain't adorable," Inuyasha spluttered hoarsely as he half-heartedly growled and batted his hand to get her to stop but ultimately gave up. It felt nice, _really_ nice, and he felt enough like crap to not want to fight her.

The corners of Kagome's lips twitched upwards as she teased him gently" I knew you liked it."

"Do not," he protested softly even as he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. Kagome rolled her eyes but didn't stop, maneuvering to sit with her back to the headboard where she could more comfortably reach the small fluffy triangles, and grinning when he heard him give an almost inaudible happy wheezy sounding sigh as he pressed his ear a little more firmly into her hand.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say," she laughed quietly to herself, staring down at him affectionately as he drifted off to sleep with a ghost of a smile on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha felt like his head was about to split open to the point where he wondered if it actually had. Glancing around the room through half-seeing eyes, he could tell he was in Kagome's room but the image was quickly replaced by red and black splotches dancing in front of his and he suddenly couldn't remember if his eyes were opened or closed. All he knew was that her scent was _gone_ , as if she'd been gone for a very, _very_ long time. She'd left him, even when she knew he was sick. _Why_?

"Kagome," he whispered hoarsely before yet another painful coughing fit overtook his body and his consciousness flickered. When he didn't get a response, he tried to search out her scent but to his utter devastation, he couldn't smell her at all. She had left him, _really_ left him.

"Come back. Please… _please_ come back," he began to beg frantically, praying that maybe she'd hear him. He was getting worse. He felt worse and she left him all alone. Inuyasha felt as if someone had shaken his brain until it was thoroughly bruised. Shooting pains stabbed chaotically through his muscles and there was a ringing in his ears and he was alone. He was going to die alone. Alone. All alone. She'd left him. She'd given up on him. She _knew_...she _left_... _ **alone**_.

Despite his inability to breath, he attempted to force himself into a sitting position but it felt like a boulder was sitting atop his chest. Thrashing now against the heavy weight, his breath began to come in quick, uneven gasps, "No. I need to… _no_. Kagome… _please_ … ** _please_** come back. Don't go. _Please_ don't go."

The world was turning into a blur. Sounds. Taste. Smell. Everything good in the world was just gone and he was just left with his pain. Inuyasha stopped struggling for a moment trying to hold back the strange feelings rumbling inside him but it was clear he just couldn't. A lone tear traced down his cheek, and just like that, the floodgates opened. So many tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down his face and for once in his life, he didn't care about showing such weakness. Half-heartedly trying to push the boulder off his chest, he gasped for air that simply wasn't there and darkness began to roll through his mind in waves. The medicine didn't work. Kagome must've given up on him. He was going to die alone. All alone.

"Kagome, I'm sorry," he croaked in between massive gasps for air intermingled with heart wrenching sobs, "I'm _sorry_. Don't go. _Please_ come back. **_Please_**."

Kagome's heart broke as she continued to hold him down and tried to whisper words of comfort that he simply couldn't hear in his fever induced delusion.

 **XXXXX**

It had been hours since he had finally gone still. The kind of deathly stillness that made Kagome's heart stop beating until he took another rattling breath. The doctor told them he might get worse before he started getting better but it scared her that her normally rough and tumble hanyou who'd rather die than admit he was afraid had been reduced to…to _that_. He'd be embarrassed when he woke up, if he even remembered what had happened.

"Ka…Kagome?" Inuyasha whispered hoarsely as his eyelids fluttered but failed to open. Quickly, Kagome moved from the desk chair to his side and gripped his hand, "I'm here. I've always been here. I'm not going to leave you."

"But you…you were gone," he whispered in a frightened tone of voice that sent chills down Kagome's spine. For a moment, he was quiet before he asked, sounding suddenly unsure of himself, "Weren't you gone?"

"No," Kagome whispered as she ran her free hand down his fever flushed cheek, "I've been right here this whole time. You're going to be okay, alright?"

"I thought…I don't understand," Inuyasha whispered as his breath began to come out in uneven pants that had alarm bells ringing in Kagome's head, "You _were_ …I don't…"

"Shhhh. It's alright. It's alright," Kagome cooed as calmly as she could given the circumstances despite the boy suddenly hyperventilating before her. Unsure of what else to say, she decided this was as good as time as any for a little white lie, "I…I, um, left to go to school for a little bit, that's all, but I'm not going to leave you again, okay?"

"Oh," Inuyasha breathed, his chest still rising and falling rapidly, sweat still condensing over his brow, "So…you did leave for a little bit, right? I…I didn't imagine it?"

Kagome forced a grin onto her face as she gripped his hand tightly.

"You know… _school_ and stuff," she lied lamely trying to sound as non-chalant and normal as she could, "But I will never leave you again, okay?"

Nodding, Inuyasha's breathing evened out as much as it could given his illness and the tension slowly left his muscles, "I just…you were...just…just wish you'd've told me first is all."

"Yeah," Kagome choked as a single tear slid down her cheek, "Next time I'll tell you. Why don't you go to sleep, huh? You need to get rest."

"Sleep sounds goods," Inuyasha whispered breathlessly, his eyelids still fluttering yet never opening, "I'm...I'm really tired."

Kagome breathed a sigh of relief as the weak grip he had on her hand loosened. Gently placing it back onto the bed, she leaned over and placed a quick kiss through the mask onto his sweat drenched forehead before going back over to her desk, burying her face in her hands and allowing the tears she'd been holding back to break free.


	7. Chapter 7

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"There's inflammation around his brain, kidneys and heart," the doctor informed his patient's caregiver before giving them a stern glare, "He _really_ should be hospitalized and be under observation but I can't _force_ you to admit him."

Kagome's mother gave the doctor a strained apologetic smile before asking quietly, "What do we need to do?"

"Admit him," the doctor stated bluntly as he folded his arms across his chest. Ms. Higurashi shook her head slowly as she sighed heavily, "We can't do that. What…what can be done at _home_?"

Rolling his eyes, the doctor chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment as he sent the glare he wanted to send at the woman in front of him at the medical chart instead, "I can prescribe some intravenous ibuprofen and some diuretics to lessen the swelling. I'm also going to increase his dosage of antibiotics. The nurse will be over later this evening to give the first dose but I'm telling you he _needs_ to be admitted. If the swelling around his heart gets any worse, he's going to need emergency surgery, emphasis on _emergency_. He probably already has long term damage. I don't understand how someone under your care managed to get this sick without you noticing. This borders on child abuse. Hell, this is child abuse."

"I don't like your insinuation," Ms. Higurashi clipped back, "Like we've said, he's an orphan and Kagome's friend. We're taking care of him because no one else will. He came to us this way."

"So why not admit him? What's the harm?" the doctor quipped back angrily before sighing and rubbing a hand across his face, "Listen, I've been a friend of your family for years. That's why I've been writing all those letters to Kagome's school so she can help out around the shrine when her grandfather is doing so poorly but this is _different_. I know you're good people so I'm not going to report you to protective services but my hand will be forced if his condition worsens and you continue to refuse to admit him."

"I understand," Ms. Higuarshi sighed heavily as she stood to leave the small office, "Thank you for your help."

 **XXXXX**

"I'm never getting in that machine, ever again," Inuyasha wheezed as Kagome helped him back onto the bed, "That was the _worst_."

Kagome laughed and flopped down on the cot she was currently using as her bed, "Oh, come on. It can't be the _worst_ thing that's ever happened to you. You've literally had Sesshomaru's _arm_ through your chest."

"Still say it's up there," Inuyasha muttered as he tried and failed to stifle his grin, "I'm feeling a little better though. Stupid scan thing probably won't show anything's wrong with me."

Kagome's smile faltered slightly and for once she was grateful for the mask she was being forced to wear. Her mother had already texted her the results of the scan. She was just waiting for the right time to tell him, without sending him into another fit of hysterics but maybe swelling around your heart wasn't as traumatizing as finding out you had swelling on your brain…maybe? _No_ …on second thought, it'd probably be better to wait until he's good and doped up on pain medication to tell him the news.

"Kagome?" the hanyou's gently spoken whisper breaking her out of her thoughts, "Do you…you still haven't caught it right? You'd tell me if you caught it?"

Nodding, Kagome stood and walked over to him, "I'm fine Inuyasha. The doctor has been checking on us all to make sure we haven't caught it. I don't even test positive to TB."

Sighing, Inuyasha didn't look entirely convinced as he lifted the covers and scooted underneath. Pausing for a moment, he bit his lip and gave Kagome a quick glance as a blush entirely unrelated to his lingering fever bloomed on his cheeks. He wasn't the lovey dovey type but despite what he'd said only a few seconds ago, he felt like crap and there was nothing he wanted more than to just be held. Laughing, Kagome arched her eyebrows in a silent question making crimson erupt all over his face as he muttered so quietly she almost missed it.

"Would you…I know we ain't like that but…I just…know what? Never mind," the hanyou spluttered before quickly flipping to turn towards the wall, "Forget I said anything."

"Were you….were you about to ask me to _cuddle_ , Inuyasha?" Kagome teased, taking note of the way that his ears flattened against his head and the softly muttered,embarassed sounding, " _No_."

"You _were_!" Kagome giggled happily as she clapped her hands together, "That's so _cute_!"

Glancing over his shoulder, he opened his mouth to tell her off when, to his utter shock and surprise, he saw her removing her shoes.

"Well are you going to just stare or are you gunna scoot over so I can get in?" Kagome chided playfully as she began to pull her socks off as well. Quickly overcoming his shock, Inuyasha scooted as close to the wall as he could manage and watched in awe as the girl laid atop the covers beside him, trying to still his racing heart as she gently pulled his head onto her shoulder and began to stroke his hair. A smile crept over his face and the air grew thick with a tenderness that couldn't help but make him breathe slower, deeper, _happier_.

"So why'd you want to cuddle, huh? That's not like you at all," Kagome teased as she scratched one of his ears lightly. Instead of answering, Inuyasha merely shrugged once before he wrapped his arm around her tightly, buried his nose in the crook of her neck and adjusted himself to be more comfortable as he drifted off to sleep in the arms of the woman he loved.


	8. Chapter 8

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha woke hours later to the feeling of Kagome still running her fingers gently down through his hair. She…she had to _love_ him, right? _Really_ love him. It wasn't like she'd do this if she didn't. Sure, she'd said she liked him as he was and stuff but that's not the same. Miroku and Sango liked him the way he was too. While he knew she _liked_ him, it would've been a giant leap to assume her feelings ran deeper than just a crush. Normal people don't risk their lives or coo and fawn over someone they _don't_ love, right?

He'd always thought his feelings for her were clear but he wasn't so sure anymore. She'd been so willing to believe him that day, so willing to believe he didn't care about her at all. Like there was _actually_ the possibility that was true. The fact that she believed him, _really_ believed him, hurt more than anything. Hell, she should've known better. She should've...but she didn't.

She didn't seem to remember the time he'd taken care of her when she was sick. She didn't seem to remember that he'd all but told her he loved her. What did she think he _meant_ when he said he needed her beside him? She didn't seem to remember all the times he'd carried her on his back. He didn't carry just _anyone_ that way. She didn't seem to remember that he'd nearly died for her a hundred times over. And while, _yeah_ , he went to see Kikyo, it had hurt more than he'd like to admit that she didn't remember he _always_ came back to her. He could've left and searched for shards with Kikyo. She was able to see the shards as well, if not _better_ than Kagome, but he stayed with the one he loved… _really_ loved. While he didn't love Kikyo anymore, that didn't mean he was going to suddenly _hate_ her. He still wanted to protect her, just like he wanted to protect all his friends but…that didn't mean he wanted a life with her anymore. He wanted Kagome…but how could someone like him make a life with her either? What kinda life would that be?

It was _so_ easy to forget his reasons for keeping her at arm's length being here in her era where no one knew what he was. With her running her hands down his hair and gently messaging his ears as she held him close to her body while he slept. With her cooing over him and taking care of him like he was a normal, regular boy. Like she truly didn't see him as any different. Despite his inability to breathe and the general feeling of shit, he hadn't felt this happy in a long time. If it weren't for the jewel shards, he'd never want to leave.

"Kagome?" he whispered hoarsely as he tried to quell the coughing fit that threatened to break free the minute he tried to talk. When she mere hummed in response, he shakily pushed himself a little higher onto her shoulder. To hell with pretending any longer. He thought he was dying not four days ago. If there was ever a time to realize life was for the living it was now. Summoning up his courage – surprisingly running into battle took less of it than the innocent action he had planned - nuzzled his nose in her neck and gently placed a kiss at the base, eliciting a surprised gasp from the woman holding him.

"Thanks," he wheezed before pushing himself away from her just in time for the coughing fit to rack his entire body, grinning inwardly when he felt her gentle hands rubbing his back. Yeah…she loved him and hopefully this stupid illness wouldn't kill him before he could find the courage to tell her he loved her too.

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha didn't know whether he liked these painkiller things that they kept giving him. They really didn't get rid of the pain per se, they just made him not care as much about it. The world felt fuzzy and he felt really tired but mainly just really apathetic towards everything.

While those weren't great, what he hated the most was the new medication that made him feel like he needed to pee every five minutes and when you can barely stand, _nothing_ is worse than having to ask for help in that department. Every single one of Kagome's family members, including humiliatingly _Kagome_ , had seen him in _all_ his naked glory at this point because he could barely stand much less make it down the hall to the bathroom by himself. Anyway, he couldn't really _not_ take them because according to the nurse, not taking them could cause him to have a heart attack or something to do with the swelling around his heart. Something which Kagome _conveniently_ failed to tell him. Not that he blamed her. He'd literally passed out after hyperventilating for a good five minutes after she told him what meningitis meant.

The worst were the _humiliating_ baths and showers which he couldn't really do himself. Sota, unfortunately, didn't have the strength to keep him upright or move him around and hell would freeze over before he let Kagome's mom or grandpa touch his naked body so that task fell to Kagome. While Kagome actively avoided staring as well as touching him...well _there_...he knew she must've noticed _certain_ reactions. Despite nothing else working like it should, his hormones were alive _and_ kicking. Apparently _they_ didn't get the memo that utilization wasn't in the near future, or hell, in the future _at all_ if he didn't get better soon.

The only consolation in all of this was that he was, in fact, _not_ actively dying although he'd heard the doctor on multiple occasions tell Kagome's family, "He's not out of the woods yet. You still need to prepare for the worst."

He _really_ didn't like that guy. Every time he saw him he found some new problem, blame Kagome's family for something that was in no way their fault or would say something ominous. It wasn't like…like… _oh god no_.

"Ka— _Kagome_?" he managed to spit out through clenched teeth as a flood of nausea hit him at the same time a terrible, disgusting smell reached his nose. Despite his efforts to fight the tingling sensation coursing through his veins that he had come to associate with the worst part of this whole experience, inky black began to flood into the corners of his eyes and the convulsions took him.


	9. Chapter 9

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

Dr. Kobayashi had officially had enough. All the blood work continued to come back at abnormal levels across the board. Now the boy was having seizures and, despite his insistence that hospitalization was needed, they refused to admit him. He didn't understand it!

"Either you admit him or I'm calling protective services," the doctor ground out angrily, "Everything, literally _everything_ , is coming back abnormal. Not just his illness, but his blood count, blood sugar, vitamin levels, you name it it's abnormal! On top of that, his improvement is minimal at best! Either admit him or I'm going to have to get the police involved! Your mother won't listen but maybe..."

"I'm a freaking half-demon. _That's_ **_why_**! Leave them out of this!" Inuyasha bellowed hoarsely, or he tried to bellow that is. Instead it came out as a soft hiss. If the medicine wasn't working, then he needed to get the doctor to realize that maybe, just maybe, something else needed to be done. He was not going to die, dammit! Pulling the bandana off his head as Kagome watched on completely mortified, Inuyasha barrelled ahead, "Look I've got dog ears. I've got fangs. I've got claws. Shit, just look at my _hair_! I'm obviously _not_ human so you need to figure out how to fix this shit for someone like _me_!"

For a moment, Dr. Kobayashi merely stared at him with wide unbelieving eyes before, to the utter shock of everyone, he smiled.

"Well that actually explains a lot," the doctor laughed as he scribbled on his chart, "Why didn't you just say that from the start?"

"Wait, what?" Kagome spluttered incredulously before she panicked, "He's...he's not crazy. I swear, he's..."

"A half-demon. Yes I heard. Do you honestly think that he's the first demon I've come across?" the doctor asked bemusedly, "There's a statute of secrecy naturally but yes, I've had demon patients before."

Laughing outright at the two teenagers expressions, he wiped a tear from his eye as he turned to address Inuyasha, "So I'm assuming you're of inuyoukai descent? Oh, it all makes sense now. You _are_ aware there are demon hospitals, right? Now that's out the way, I'm going to admit him for a few weeks in a place where you needn't worry about potential exposure. You'll need clearance Kagome so I'll write a letter authorizing you to access the facility alright?"

Kagome's mouth was moving wordlessly as she stared incredulously at the doctor, "I don't believe you. You're trying to get him committed or something. This is a trick."

"I give you my word that it's most certainly not," the doctor replied earnestly, "In fact, why don't you ask your friend here about the demon world? I'm sure he can tell you much more than I."

"He's not…" Kagome began before stopping mid-sentence when she realized what she was about to admit.

"He's not what?" the doctor asked, as he tried and failed to smother his grin.

"He's, uh, not part of that world," Kagome lied smoothly, "He's lived off the radar."

"Well, I can see how that would present a problem but rest assured, that's easily fixed," the doctor responded quickly, "He can register when you check in. Nothing you can say is going to stop me from admitting him."

"How about I'm from the past and I might be alive right now which means if I have enemies they can wipe me off the map unless I die from this bullshit in which case never mind," Inuyasha hissed exasperatedly as Kagome groaned and buried her face in her hands. Sending a withering look at Kagome who was clearly on the verge of some type of nervous breakdown, he whipped an irate glare towards the doctor who... _didn't_ look surprised.

"That's actually not as uncommon as you may think. There's actually a team doing genetic mapping of demons with that ability in Dubai, I believe," the doctor responded as he took a good look at his patient and his lady friend who were staring at him like he just grew a second head.

"I don't have…" Inuyasha began before yet another coughing fit hit him. The cough sounded loose and wet, like thick phlemy mucus was sliding up and down his throat with each violent expulsion of air…except…it wasn't _mucus_ that he had managed to expel.

Furrowing his brow at the specks of blood on the boys hand, the doctor asked quietly, "Who else was exposed to you and what era are you from?"

"Feudal Japan, around five hundred years ago," Kagome whispered quietly as she wrung her hands. In all the drama surrounding Inuyasha, it never occurred to her to check to make sure it hadn't spread to their friends,, "And I guess, three humans, a demon cat and a demon child. They've only been exposed for maybe an hour or two."

"The demon cat will be fine. What breed of demon is the child?" the doctor asked as he frowned and pulled out his prescription pad.

"Fox," Kagome responded breathlessly, "He's not much older than four or five."

"That's unfortunate. There is a high mortality rate with tuberculosis in the elderly and the young, regardless of whether they're demon or not," the doctor responded before he finished scribbling and ripped the prescription off his pad, "Here, this a ninety-day prescription for antibiotics for each of those exposed. Hopefully, if it was transmitted, it's still early enough to be controlled. Fill it at the pharmacy over by the government buildings off Nishi-Shinjuku. They're one of the foremost demon run pharmacies in Tokyo and they'll be able to fill the one needed for your fox friend. Hanyous are responsive to regular antibiotics but full blooded demons are not."

Kagome really couldn't believe this was happening. This was all so improbable, so impossible, so utterly and completely ridiculous.

"For the record, I agree that's too dangerous to admit you to the hospital when you may be recognized. However, I'm going to have to bring in a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases in demons," the doctor began before he quickly added at the seeing the outrage on the half-demon's face, "but he's also a friend of your grandfather, Kagome, and a benefactor of the shrine. I've known him for years and I'd trust him with my life so there is no need to fear whether he'd been an 'enemy' alright? I do need to get some more accurate information, however. How old are you?"

"Uh, a hundred and fifty give or take," Inuyasha offered before glaring at Kagome when she snorted.

"Oh my god, I didn't realize you were so _old_ ," the miko laughed. Frowning, Inuyasha blushed. He didn't want her to think of him as some old person. Then she'd never want…

"Not that old. I'm _your_ age in demon years," he pouted as a deep shade of crimson crept onto his cheeks and he folded his arms across his chest.

"Actually, in demon years, you'd be _five,_ the _same_ age as your little fox friend. Are you sure that's the standard of measurement you want to give your girlfriend?" the doctor teased lightly as he made the adjustments to the chart.

"I'm _not_ his girlfriend," Kagome answered a little too quickly for the hanyou's liking. The doctor looked up and rolled his eyes, " _Right_ …well, Kagome how _did_ you meet this fine young man?"

"I…um…well…" Kagome spluttered anxiously, "I mean…"

Deciding that he'd save them the embarrassment of whatever situation they seemed keen to avoid reliving, the doctor laughed and decided to throw them a figurative bone, "Well, the mystery of why you needed so many excuses has been solved. Do you travel to the feudal era often?"

When Kagome nodded, he frowned slightly and pulled out his prescription pad once more, "I'm going to give you some additional vaccines. You already have antibiotics but I'm going to prescribe some anti-viral medication just in case its needed. I'm surprised you haven't caught anything. I don't think you received your small pox vaccination from what I remember."

Kagome blanched and Inuyasha's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he sent Kagome an accusatory glare and hissed, "You said you couldn't catch anything!"

"I'm sorry alright. I didn't know," Kagome hissed back as the doctor laughed and shook his head. Sighing, the doctor sat on the edge of the bed and considered them both, "I don't see a problem with continued home care but I'm going to increase your dosages accordingly, start you on an anti-convulsant and I'll need to take more bloodwork to run it through the appropriate tests. Based on the information I just learned, your recovery time will most likely be shorter than what I originally thought. You'll be up and about in three months, at most. Normally it'd be less than that but you've let it progress too far."

As the doctor got up and began to fiddle with his bag, Kagome turned to Inuyasha and whispered in his ear, "Did _you_ know there were demons in this era?"

Inuyasha nodded mutely as he stared wearily at the needle and tubes in the doctor's hands. He'd take being stabbed by a sword over having to watch his blood being sucked out his arm _any_ day. There was something unnatural about it that put him on edge and sent shivers running down his spine. It was bad enough that he had to keep the one needle with all those tubes in his arm all day but at least with that, stuff was going _in_ and nothing was coming _out_.

"I…I mean, you've seen them too. The soul piper, remember, with that little girl and…and that mask," a green looking Inuyasha answered wearily as the doctor took his hand and began probing his veins, before taking an alcohol pad to clean the area and with one stick, managed to get the flow of blood started.

"Does the big, bad inu-hanyou need to lay down?" the doctor teased as he glanced up and saw the dazed look on Inuyasha's face, "I'll be done soon. Just stay with me and don't pass out. I'll give you a sticker when we're done."

"I don't want to be _stuck_ by _anything_ else if I don't haffta," Inuyasha growled out hoarsely as Kagome laughed and added playfully, "Maybe you should give him a lollipop for being a good boy."

Setting his jaw, Inuyasha rolled his head towards her and glared.


	10. Chapter 10

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

It had been a weird freaking day. Kagome had traveled to the other side of the planet - okay maybe not planet but it felt like it - to fill the prescriptions for her friends. It had taken hours and every minute away from her hanyou made the knot in her stomach grow tighter. The higher doses weren't sitting well with him and he had been vomiting most of the morning. Dr. Kobayashi insisted it was nothing to worry about but she really wanted a second opinion. It was strange, or perhaps not, but Inuyasha had actually been a lot less...well, rude and obstinate since he'd come back. He'd been sweet and affectionate, which almost blew her mind. Maybe he just didn't feel well enough to be his usual stubborn, gruff self but while it was weird, she really liked it and stranger still, she got the distinct impression he liked the change in his behavior as well. He was smiling a lot more than she'd ever seen, and just seemed overall happier aside from when it got really bad. Then he was _miserable_.

The scariest it ever got was when he cried...and he'd been tearing up a lot lately. He was crying earlier after the tenth time he'd emptied his stomach. Just sat and buried his face in his knees that he'd pulled tightly against his chest as she rubbed his back unsure of what to say. She didn't know how his stomach still managed to find stuff to expel. He was barely eating as it was and yet it kept coming _and_ coming _and_ coming.

As she wrung her hair dry, Kagome quickly changed into fresh clothes and placed the mask over her mouth. She'd showered and sterilized everything she planned on bringing to her friends who she prayed hadn't caught this bitch of a disease. He didn't want her to leave but he knew she needed to. He didn't want his friends to die from what he had anymore than she did but he was nervous as hell that she'd carry it back and give it to them if they hadn't caught it. So, she took the bag full of medicine and took a deep breath as she made her way towards the well.

 **XXXXX**

It'd been almost a week since Inuyasha had shown up, blood gurgling out of the corner of his mouth, looking skeletal and gaunt. If it wasn't for the firerat robe, she wouldn't have recognized him at all. It was almost _impossible_ to believe that was the same rough and tumble hanyou they'd all come to know and love and that scared her. She knew demons could catch diseases but...she'd never seen _anything_ like _that_. How did he catch it? Would they catch it because they cared for their friend, even though it was for only a few hours?

Shippo was sitting against the hut door, anxiously wringing his hands as he cast glances at the others and bit his lip. As much as he bullied Inuyasha, he'd always thought of him as an older brother of sorts and he really, _really_ didn't want him to die. That Kagome hadn't been back in a week scared him. They'd all thought she'd come back to tell them after the night of the new moon whether he had survived or not but she hadn't which meant either that he died and she was mourning him _or_ that he was so sick she couldn't leave his side. He really hoped it was the latter.

Miroku sat under the Sacred Tree, running a solitary finger down his covered palm. For whatever reason, he always assumed that if one of them was going to die it would be him. That it was Inuyasha, whom he thought of as almost invincible, that was now the forerunner in that department was sobering. Life was unpredictable and unfair. It had never been more clear than when he saw the hanyou that fateful day. In a way, he was glad they'd seen Kikyo but he also felt enormous shame. They were so quick to assume the very worst about their friend that it never even occurred to them that he had a reason for sending Kagome home. They should've known better. Everything Inuyasha did was to protect the people he cared about so that he'd turn on all of them so suddenly should have alerted them to a bigger issue. Their friend would have died, still might die, because they believed he was capable of betraying them. What did that say about their friendship? Did they really not trust him? Did they truly think so little of him?

 **XXXXX**

As Kagome threw her leg over the lip of the well, she frowned at the distinct lack of noise coming from the direction of the village. She'd never given it much thought before but there were no voices, no soft sounds of footprints or animals, no gentle sloshing of men in the rice paddies. Just silence. Could she be too late? She should've come back sooner but...that might've been too dangerous. She should have...  
"KAGOME!" Shippo screamed as he collided with her chest so hard the miko had the wind knocked out of her, "you came back! Where's Inuyasha? Is he..is he..."

"He's going to be alright but we're going to be gone for a few months. What he has is _really_ serious and contagious," Kagome stressed before she asked nervously, "Have any of you..."

"I've been making sure they don't smell like Inuyasha," Shippo reassured her, "I thought he smelled weird for a while before he sent you home but I didn't know why. Now that I know, I'm keeping track of everyone's scent."

"Good job, Shippo. I'm proud of you," Kagome cooed as she rubbed his hair, "I've got some medicine all of you need to take to make sure you don't get sick like him and some stuff to disinfect Kaede's hut. Where are the others?"

"Miroku's by the tree and Sango and Kaede are in the village," Shippo answered before frowning, "Everyone else left though. Apparently, what Inuyasha has is real bad and people wanted to leave in case he came back."

"Yeah, it's pretty bad but he's taking medicine and we're hoping he'll get better soon," Kagome responded quietly, not wanting to go into the full extent of how bad it really was, " After I explain how to take all this stuff, I've got to go back but I'll come back in a week to let you guys know some more."


	11. Chapter 11

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"Who do you think it is?" Kagome asked quietly as they looked out the window into the courtyard, "I mean, do you think it's someone we know?"

"Not gunna lie. I hope it's _not_ because I've pissed a lot of people off," Inuyasha muttered as he kept a firm grip on Tessiaga's hilt, "Watch it be Sesshomaru."

Kagome rolled her eyes and laughed, "I seriously, _seriously_ doubt _Sesshomaru_ became a doctor. Of all the professions, I doubt he picked the one that helps people."

"Yeah," Inuyasha wheezed before a very wet sounding cough forced its way out. Clearing his throat, he rubbed lightly at his chest before adding hoarsely, "He's probably a...oh, _oh_ _ **no**_ _._ Not him, _anyone_ but him."

"Who is it?" Kagome whispered anxiously, but before Inuyasha could answer a booming voice suddenly rang out, "Well, I'll be _damned_. It's mutt face and the lovely Kagome."

 **XXXXX**

Koga sighed as he finished his physical examination of his patient, who had been stubborn and fought him every step of the way…which was to be expected based on what he knew of the boy. Pulling off his gloves, he picked up his chart and reviewed it, "Based on what Dr. Kobayashi told me, you've been having an adverse reaction to the medication he's prescribed. I'm not surprised by that, your youkai is much stronger than the average half demon. I'm going to switch you over to a demon grade…"

"Am. _I_ . **_Dead_**?" Inuyasha hissed angrily for what seemed like the umpteenth time as he glared at his rival in love, his hand hovering over the Tessaiga that he'd kept beside him on the bed. Kagome rolled her eyes and gave her hanyou a stern look as Koga bit his lip to prevent himself from laughing and scribbled on the chart, "As I've been saying, I can't tell you that but you seem pretty alive to me right now, wouldn't you agree?"

"So I'm alive?" Inuyasha asked cautiously. Again Koga, clearly having way too much fun with the situation, clipped back cheekily, "Didn't say _that_. So, how long have you had symptoms?"

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha set his jaw and folded his arms across his chest, "I'm not telling you jack shit."

"Inuyasha," Kagome chided gently, "He's just here to help."

"Don't trust him," Inuyasha grumbled as he continued to glare at the wolf demon before him.

"Well, that's not my problem, dog shit," Koga replied as the corners of his mouth twitched upwards, "Oh, it's been _so_ long since I've gotten to say that. This is _fun_."

"So I'm dead then?" Inuyasha asked in a defeated tone of voice. Koga arched his brow, "That isn't what I said and I just told you I can't say either way. How long have you had symptoms?"

"You wouldn't be here _unless_ I survived," Inuyasha huffed to which Koga laughed outright, "Maybe I'm just here to make the time you've got left a little more bearable so you don't die a slow, tortured, _painful_ death."

Inuyasha blanched and paled while Kagome merely rolled her eyes and grinned, "Either way, I'm glad you're here. Didn't really feel like explaining all this twice and you already know we're from the past. He's had symptoms for about three and a half months based on what I can figure. "

After he scribbled a little on the chart, Koga beamed at her and nodded, "Yeah, I knew even way back then and even if I didn't, I'd be a moron to not realize you're from this era. I've been friends with your grandpa for years so I've definitely picked up your scent."

"Does Grandpa know you're a demon?" Kagome whispered anxiously. Koga nodded and grinned, "Well _yeah_. He tries to exercise me nearly every time I see him but it's all in good fun. Why do you think your family is so chill with dog shit over here and so readily accepting that demons exist? They _knew_. They didn't know _I_ knew you way back but they knew about demons in general."

"What the hell?! Am I the only one who _didn't_ know?!" Kagome bellowed angrily. Koga began to chuckle, "Not _my_ fault you didn't believe your grandpa when he told you stories. You'd would've been told outright after you came of age, though, since you've been...uh, _grandfathered_ in, although they couldn't tell you before then because that's..."

"The law. Yeah. We get it. Are you going to treat me or not?" Inuyasha spat back angrily which unfortunately caused him to break down in yet another angry fit of coughing, blood sprinkling over his hand and the pink, cotton sheets.

Koga frowned and sighed, "The only reason, and I mean the _only_ reason, you're _not_ dead is because you're a half-demon. This degree of severity would've killed you already if you were human. Based on the CT scan, we need to perform surgery on your heart as soon as possible. The fluid build up is substantial."

"What's surgery?" Inuyasha hissed, trying and failing to sound angry. Instead it came out the exact opposite way of how he intended - he sounded scared shitless. Kagome grimaced and groaned internally as Koga answered cautiously, "Well...um, I'll need to cut you open and..."

"What the fuck?!" Inuyasha croaked as he turned a nasty shade of green, "What do you mean cut open?!"

"I mean, cut open your chest and poke at your beating little mutt heart," Koga teased before looking quite solemn and sighing,"In all seriousness, though, you have a choice to make. Either I schedule a surgery for you and assist or you die a slow, painful death."

Inuyasha almost chose death but with a heavy sigh, he thought better of it.

"What if someone sees me?" he muttered, "What if..."

"Ginta and Hakkaku will stand guard. You remember them surely and they know to keep their mouth shut. On top of that, I'll evacuate the floor on the basis of your contagious disease. We'll perform at a human hospital so you don't accidentally run into anyone who might know you. Demon medical professionals aren't allowed under the law to treat human patients, although the opposite is true, and demon patients aren't stupid enough to go to a human hospital. No one should know you because discrimination is still a thing. Congratulations and welcome to the 20th century."

"You said assist. Who is going to do the surgery then?" Kagome asked nervously. Casting a quick glance at the hanyou, Koga gave him a knowing look before answering simply and turning back to the chart, "Ayame will perform the surgery."

"So Kagome ends up with _me_ ," Inuyasha stated bluntly, a faint hint of hope in his tone that had Kagome gaping at him and turning beet red.

"Didn't say that," Koga answered playfully, a mischievous sparkle in his eye as he cast Kagome a knowing look that had her face flush a deeper shade of crimson, "Just that Ayame is a surgeon and I'll be assisting."

"Okay...so...um, surgery then?" Inuyasha sighed nervously, hating that he was showing weakness in front of the wolf demon. Koga gave him a sympathetic look, "Look, I know this must be hard but despite what I've said in the past, I've always respected you. I'm going to do all that I can to help, alright?"

Inuyasha nodded and sighed in a defeated tone, "Well, thanks I _guess_."

Koga's eyebrows flew straight into his ebony locks before he composed himself and he scribbled something down on the chart, "Well, you're welcome I _guess_. I'll try to schedule the surgery for tomorrow. You'll need to stay overnight in observation but I can arrange for you to be in a isolated, quarantined ward. I'll treat and observe you myself and so will Dr. Kobayashi."

With that all being said and done, Koga wished them both a good night and left the two very nervous looking teenagers behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"How are you feeling?" Kagome asked quietly as she brushed some stray hairs away from his face. Damn, painkillers and anti-nausea medication made for a dangerous cocktail, Kagome mused. She couldn't hold back the giggle when he merely gave her a drugged smile, coyly buried his face into the pillow and cuddled Tessaiga against his chest like it some type of stuffed animal instead of responding.

"You want me to leave you alone so you can sleep?" the miko questioned softly before laughing outright at the horrified expression on his face, "What on earth is _wrong_ with you? I'm not leaving _forever_ just so you can take a nap. I might take a nap myself if I'm being honest."

Grinning and dopily burying half of his face back into the pillow once more, he muttered something that Kagome couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. You're going to have to speak up," Kagome whispered quietly as Inuyasha began to snicker lightly, "You could sleep with _me_."

"Inuyasha, there isn't enough room on the bed for us to both sleep there," Kagome chided gently before turning beet, _beet_ red when he merely responded in a _very_ un-Inuyasha like, _very_ slurred way, "Who said anything about _actually_ sleeping?"

" _Right_..." Kagome laughed nervously as she tried to dispel some of the very, very awkward sexual tension that had just entered the room. If someone would've told her a week ago that a very, _very_ high Inuyasha was going to proposition her she would've tried to have them committed but here they were and so he was.

"You're not saying _no_ ," he slurred flirtatiously as he sent her a dopey grin and obviously fought a losing battle to keep his eyelids open. After a few minutes where Kagome ran her fingers through his forelocks, he added in a very drunk sounding voice that made Kagome snort to keep from laughing, "You know you want me. I'm _sexy_. _So_ sexy."

As his eyes fluttered closed, he placed a light, lingering kiss on her palm as it passed by that made Kagome's eyes widen incrementally and made her mind so fuzzy that the miko almost missed something he probably never meant for her to hear.

"Love you, 'gome. _Love_... _you_..."

Grinning, Kagome felt her heart would burst straight out of her chest as she watched him clearly pass out. He _loved_ her and yeah, maybe it was the _drugs_ talking but he still said it god dammit and that counted for something, _right_?

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha woke the next morning with a bitch of a headache and the feeling of Kagome's fingers idly scratching his ear.

"Good morning, sleepy head," Kagome whispered, "You need to get up, we've got to head to the hospital in a little bit. I've got some fresh clothes laid out for you alright?"

"Great, surgery," Inuyasha muttered as he closed his eyes again ,"So wolf shit can cut open my chest and pull my still beating heart out. _Goody_."

"Hey, it'll be alright," Kagome soothed before plucking up her courage, "Why don't I help you take a bath alright? You really need one."

Oh, how he _loathed_ bathing, especially when it was Kagome helping him out. Luckily, the painkillers put a damper on his more primal instincts but they didn't keep his hormones completely in check. Still, he'd rather go into this bullshit somewhat clean than going in completely filthy. Fighting back the growing blush on his cheeks, he nodded and allowed her to help him up.

 **XXXXX**

"It won't be _so_ bad," Kagome commented casually as she massaged the shampoo into his scalp, "Koga said you'd probably be mostly healed by tomorrow morning, so that's good."

Nodding absently, Inuyasha couldn't really hear her over the blood pounding in his hears and his desperate attempts to bite back the moan that threatened to break free. It felt good, _too_ good, to have her rub his head like this.

As Kagome rinsed his silver mane, she bit her lip as she momentarily questioned her own sanity. She kept trying to figure out a way to get him to admit he loved her again but she was way too chicken shit to say it first so maybe...just _maybe_ if she did something that made it clear how she felt about him would be enough? She'd definitely have to question her sanity later. Gently placing his hair over his shoulder, she took a deep breath before leaning over to place a lingering kiss on his neck as she whispered against his skin, sending shivers down his spine, "You'll be fine."

Before Inuyasha could stop himself, his hand flew up to keep her in place and he flexed his neck in a silent plea for her continue. Smiling softly, Kagome slowly began to place gentle, lingering kisses up and down his neck loving each uneven pant, the almost inaudible moans escaping his partially opened lips, and the way his body writhed gently when she hit certain areas.

" _Ka—Kagome_ ," he managed to gasp out breathlessly in between soft panting breaths, his hand still holding her firmly in place, " _What're you...I...hmm."_

Gently sliding her hand across his chest, she smiled secretly at the feel of his erratic heartbeat before pausing and frowning. His heartbeat was erratic but…she pressed her hand a little more firmly against his chest and immediately pulled her head back, ignoring his frustrated groan. His heartbeat was erratic but it was also uneven and she could almost feel the faltering rhythm.

Inuyasha was still panting as he tried weakly to pull her mouth back onto his neck and he whined softly, "Kagome, don't _stop_."

"I'm sorry. You're right, we shouldn't. I don't know what came over me," she muttered more to herself than to him as she reached for the conditioner.

"I…I didn't mind," Inuyasha whispered quietly in between his uneven breathing as a blush grew on his cheeks and he played idly with his hands. Here in this moment, when no one could see or hear them, he decided to take a leap of faith and be honest seeing as how he may be dead in a few hours, "I…I…I always…I had hoped..you… you liked me...you know, _that_ way."

Knowing a window of opportunity when she saw one, Kagome smiled gently as she began to work the conditioner into his hair, "I maybe more than like you. A lot more."

Turning his head to look into her eyes, his blushed deepened as he took a deep breath and decided now was as good a time as any to tell her what he'd been keeping inside all this time, "I…I maybe more than like you too. I…I…um…"

"I know," Kagome replied as she stroked his ear gently and gave him a breathtaking smile, "I love you too."

In that moment, Kagome realized she'd never _really_ seen him smile as the happiest grin she'd ever seen on his face burst free. Maybe…just _maybe_ this illness wasn't the worst thing ever.


	13. Chapter 13

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

The hospital hallway was like something out of Star Trek. Everything that could shine, did shine. There was stainless steel, sleek floors and the art on the walls were all natural images in colours as bright as glacier melt-water or spring flowers. The air had a pure fragrance, not sterile, just clean. In the background played music at just the right level to give the patients and staff an emotional lift. But despite the futuristic build and their efforts to the contrary, Inuyasha made one thing clear.

"It smells like death in here," Inuyasha muttered under his breath as he all but clung to Kagome, his eyes darting around nervously, "This is where people come to die."

Rolling her eyes, Kagome rubbed his arm affectionately, "No, it's not. It's where people come to get better."

"Says you," he quipped back quietly as he took a shuddering breath, "Your human nose can't exactly _smell_ it."

"You're going to be fine you big baby. Come on," Kagome soothed, "We've just got to go to the registration desk and then Koga will come call us back."

Inuyasha nodded as he chewed the inside of his cheek and subtly moved to intertwine his fingers with hers, "You'll...you'll be there right? When they cut me open, I mean."

"I swear Inuyasha, you rush into battle like it's nothing but a thing yet you get sick and suddenly you're a nervous wreck," Kagome teased lightly as she squeezed his hand, "I can't be in the room when they cut you open but I'll be out here the whole time and I'll be there when you wake up."

"What do you mean when I wake up?" Inuyasha blanched. This whole time he thought was going to be awake for this shit. For some reason the thought that he'd be unconscious while they prodded around at his organs was more unsettling than thinking he'd have to be awake.

"Are you kidding? You thought you'd be awake!?" Kagome laughed before rolling her eyes, "No wonder you've been so freaked out. Of course you won't be awake! They'll give you a medicine that'll keep you unconscious and take away the pain."

"How...how will I know if it makes the pain better or not if I'm asleep?" Inuyasha asked in a hushed whisper as he gripped Kagome's hand tightly.

"How high is your pain tolerance exactly?!" Kagome asked incredulously, "I mean, damn Inuyasha! You must be really sick if you've been complaining this much but being cut open doesn't phase you!"

Setting his jaw and giving Kagome a side eyed glare, he couldn't help but forgive her. Yeah, so _maybe_ he'd been complaining a lot but he liked the way Kagome cooed over him and _yeah_ , his pain tolerance was high but his tolerance for being ill was _not_. That was a _totally_ different thing and he couldn't predict recovery time or the course of illness like he could injuries. Hell, he didn't think there _was_ a recovery time until she'd brought him to her era. He thought he was dying and based on what he'd learned, he had been and still might be.

"Keh. Whatever, lets just get this over and done with," he muttered as they finally reached the check in desk. The receptionist looked up at the two masked teenagers coming up. This must be the contagious one that they'd marked on her chart to be placed immediately in quarantine.

"Higuarshi, Inuyasha?" the woman asked, looking surprised when the boy suddenly whipped his heads toward Kagome as he whispered, "What the hell, Kagome? _Your_ last name, _really_?"

"Well you don't have one," the girl hissed back before turning to the woman, "Yes this is him. We're here for..."

"Yes, yes. We've been expecting you. Come with me, you're being moved to a quarantine ward immediately upon check in," the woman stated simply before pulling out a small chart as she came around the desk and began walking down the hall, "So have you eaten in the last twelve hours?"

Inuyasha shook his head and the woman scribbled.

"Do you have any allergies to latex?"

"What the hell is..." Inuyasha wheezed out before answered for him, "No he doesn't."

"I'm assuming this girl is your next of kin," the woman asked as she continued to scribble on the piece of paper, "Kagome Higurashi, am I pronouncing that right?"

"Yes," Kagome answered. For a moment the woman seemed engrossed in her papers until she turned. Her eyes flickered upwards and locked onto the sword in his hand. The longer she stared at it, the more she had to come to the conclusion that, yes, that boy had brought an actual _sword_ into a hospital with him.

"Sir, you _can't_ have a sword in the hospital. You need to put that into your car," the woman sighed in exasperation.

"I'm keeping this sword with me! Do you know what..." Inuyasha began before Kagome put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. Knowing he'd hear her, the miko whispered as quietly as she could, "Give it to me, I'll find Koga and give it to him."

"Fine, I'll give it to her and she'll put it somewhere when we're done here," Inuyasha spat out angrily as he thrust the sword in Kagome's free hand. The woman nodded and sighed as she handed a piece of paper on a clipboard over to them, "Read this. It's information about the procedure and you'll also need to sign the consent waiver please."

Inuyasha blushed and took the plastic board from the woman's hand. He never wanted Kagome to know. He _really_ didn't. Not when her life basically revolved around school. After a few minutes of staring at the paper, he sighed and passed it to Kagome with a softly mumbled, "Can...can you read it to me?"

Kagome blinked rapidly for a second before the reality of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks and she blurted out without thinking, "Can't you read?"

Immediately, a wave of shame washed over her at the completely humiliated shake of the head that Inuyasha gave her as a reply as he dropped her hand and folded his arms tightly across his chest. Of course, it only made sense. It wasn't really like he'd ever had the opportunity. His mother died when he was so young, it made sense that she wouldn't have been able to teach him assuming that she was able, which more likely than not she wasn't. Stupid sexism. Stupid tuberculosis.

"Well, we can work on that," Kagome offered kindly before she added quickly as she held the paper up , "If you want that is, of course. Okay, let's see..."

 **XXXXX**

He freaking hated this. Exactly how many fucking things were they going to attach to him anyway! Little things that hook up to stupid things that beeped, little things they stuck in his arms. They'd cut his nails too which he thought was pointless and he had this stupid ass cap Koga was making him to cover his hair on top of the one size covers nothing piece of shit cloth they were making him wear. And then, he was being told they were going to put something to help him breathe down his throat after they knocked him out!

This wasn't worth it. Not at all but Kagome insisted he had to do it and, despite his earlier thought that'd he rather be awake, he sure as hell was glad he wouldn't be awake for this.

As Ayame came over and began to inject the stuff that'd knock him out, Inuyasha turned his head towards Kagome and reached for her hand.

"I'll see you when you wake up, okay?" Kagome cooed as she squeezed his hand gently, and she leaned over to place a kiss on his forehead.

"'Gome..." Inuyasha whispered weakly before he trailed off and the world went dark.

 **XXXXX**

The first thing Inuyasha registered as he began to wake up was the all consuming pain. The second was Kagome's smell and the scent of his own blood. It hurt to breathe, more so than it had before the surgery, and his chest felt like it was on fire.

And yet he lay there quietly, keeping his eyes closed, trying to match his painful, labored breathing to the beeping of the machines that surrounded the bed, the only indications of his heartbeat, his existence. His legs and arms felt numb, the only things that were in pain at the moment, a small fact for which he was grateful. Curiosity slowly pried open his bloodshot eyes to meet a dismal view of brilliant white hospital room, the door a navy blue, and Kagome sitting beside his bed, grinning at him as she reached over to stroke his ears in the way she'd come to learn he liked.

"Hey, you're awake," she cooed, "How do you feel?"

"Like shit," he croaked, his vocal chords sounding like they'd gone through a weed whacker. Kagome merely grinned before sighing, "Let me buzz the doctor to give you some more pain meds. That should help."

Nodding gently, Inuyasha watched her walked over to a small black button on the wall before coming back and reaching for his hand, "They said everything went well. So that's good. One less thing to worry about."

For a moment, he was quiet and then the heart monitor began to beep a little faster as he began to stroke his thumb gently over the back of her hand.

"So," he began hoarsely before pausing to clear his throat and overcome his sudden nervousness," when we get back to your house...um, well...you remember this...this morning what you were doing?"

Kagome gave him a knowing look as she bit her lip and nodded, "Yeah, I remember."

"Could you do it again?"


	14. Chapter 14

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

He'd had to stay an extra day at the hospital, to his undying frustration, since he was still coughing up blood and they wanted to do additional testing but finally, _finally_ he'd been cleared to go home.

As they sat on her bed, their hands intertwined, Inuyasha plucked up his courage. Their feelings were out there now. He knew she loved him just as she knew he loved her. _Nothing_ was going to hold him back any longer, not when so much time had been wasted as it was.

Taking a deep shaky breath, he bent over, his lips brushing lightly against her cheek, grinning inwardly as the slight shiver that ran through her.

"If you want me to stop, tell me now," he whispered softly against her skin. When Kagome said nothing, he moved and brushed his mouth against the hollow of her neck.

"Or _now_."

He traced the line of her jaw.

"Or _now_."

And then his lips were against hers.

"Or…"

Kagome pulled him down to her, and the rest of his words were lost against her mouth. He kissed her gently, carefully, but it wasn't gentleness she wanted, not now, not after all this time, and she knotted her fists in his shirt, pulling him harder against her. He groaned softly, low in his throat, and then his arms circled her, gathering her against him, and they rolled over onto the bed, tangled together, still kissing.

 **XXXXX**

When Kagome woke, it was already dark outside and to her utter mortification, someone _other_ than her had come into the room to hook Inuyasha's IV back into the fluids. The arm that had the IV lay outstretched underneath her head while the other arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. They had not done more than kiss, although she'd be lying if she said she hadn't considered going further than that. There had been... _ahem_...some over the clothes action intermingled in her very first make out session but ultimately, Inuyasha was exhausted and, after all they'd been through, she was as well. So, they settled on holding each other and finding comfort in the spooning position she found herself in now.

Frowning slightly, she thought in retrospect that a long, drawn out make out session wasn't _exactly_ the smartest thing to do with someone with tuberculosis but, with the amount of precautions they were been given, she didn't see any harm in it. As she lay back against his chest, however, she did worry whether their activities had been harmful to him. In this position, she could hear the deep, wet sounding wheeze in his chest, feel the slight tremors in his body, how emaciated he truly was and the dampness from the heat radiating off his body. In a way, she thought that most people would've been grossed out to be held in such an intimate way by someone like that but it didn't phase her. Even with all that, he was still Inuyasha and despite the minimal progress that'd been made, she didn't know if he would still be here tomorrow. She'd take every second like this she could get.

As that thought crossed her mind, she could feel him stir as the arm wrapped around her waist suddenly pulled her a little tighter into his chest and his lips brushed her shoulder.

"Hey," he whispered affectionately, his voice still grovely and a little hoarse, "we must've slept all day."

Kagome sighed happily as she nodded and closed her eyes once more, until she heard the all too familiar warning sounds of a coughing fit on the way. Quickly maneuvering herself to a sitting position, she turned just in time to see him hunched over and coughing violently into his hand. As he stared at his blood spotted hand in mild horror, his gaze suddenly whipped towards her as he mouthed silently for a moment.

" _Oh god, I didn't...you might...oh god_ ," he whispered as his breath began to come in uneven pants, " _You're...oh god.._."

"Inuyasha, shhhh...shhhh...I'm okay, really. I'll be..." Kagome tried to soothe him which for some reason only made him worse as he began to struggle for air and his eyes dilated in terror, " _What've I...no...I just...I didn't...I...I..._ "

And just like that his eyes rolled back and he fell back against the bed like a ton of bricks.

 **XXXXX**

Kagome didn't think she'd ever forgive herself. Inuyasha had been non-responsive for the last two days. Koga and Dr. Kobayashi were at a loss of what to do and were considering throwing caution to the wind and just admitting him to the demon hospital across town.

He wasn't doing worse aside from not waking up but he wasn't getting better either. All because she couldn't control her freaking teenage hormones.

"Kagome, sweetie, it's not your fault," her mother consoled her as she broke down crying for the fifth time that day alone, "He'll...he'll wake up soon. I'm sure of it."

"It is though...it is..." Kagome sobbed as she buried her face in her hands, "I...I shouldn't have...I _just_...I messed up, Mama. I _really_ messed up."

"Well, if he doesn't wake up soon, he'll go to the hospital and they'll be able to get him back up and running in no time," Kagome's mother soothed as she stroked Her daughter's hair, "but I'm _sure_ he'll wake up soon."

Kagome wanted to believe her. She wanted to but she couldn't.

 **XXXXX**

Koga sighed heavily as he ran his hands through his hair. This wasn't how things were _supposed_ to go. He knew how things _should've_ went. The mutt was supposed to recover. I mean, he didn't know the time table but he sure as hell knew he didn't _die_. Hell, last he talked to him that asshole hadn't told him about _this_. I mean, _sure_ , he couldn't know the particulars because _he_ was the doctor not the patient but dammit, this was something that he felt deserved a _little_ warning! Now that asshole wasn't answering his phone. Surely though, Koga reasoned, he wouldn't remember such a thing if that dick didn't wake up, right? That motherfucker better answer his damn phone next time he called or he was in a world of hurt. He'd tried calling her too but she wasn't answering her phone either. Where the _fuck_ were they?!

Suddenly his pocket vibrated and as the wolf demon pulled the Nokia out of his pocket, he had never been so glad to hear a ringtone before in his life.

"What the _fuck_ , man?! You could've at least _warned_ me! Oh you _dick_ , don't laugh! _No_ , I wouldn't have kept you a few extra days to avoid this shit storm you've gotten yourself into! Not if you'd told me what... _oh fuck you_. Put her on the phone, I can't deal with you right now."


	15. Chapter 15

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"We're going to admit him to a private facility," Koga announced in a tone that left no room for argument as he folded his arms across his chest. Swaying dangerously for a moment, Kagome finally gave in and collapsed into her desk chair, "A _private_ facility? Why not the hospital?"

"We've discussed it at length and have determined that a private facility would be best. It's easier to control who comes and goes," Koga stated simply as he picked up the chart and sighed, but not before he sent a side-eyed glare at the unresponsive hanyou and muttered something under his breath which luckily went unnoticed by Kagome who'd buried her face in her hands.

"I've arranged for Ginta to bring him there via air lift. It's run by the wolf demon tribe, who know better than to disobey a direct order, so he won't be harmed," Koga explained further, which had Kagome shooting daggers, " _Wait_ , what the..."

"We're all in the medical profession. You know, nurses, doctors, surgeons, radiologists, you name it and we've got a wolf who does it. He'll have access to much better care there. I'll also waive our usual charges and give you the _family_ discount which means its free before you ask," Koga cut her off casually as he glanced at his patient and said a little too loudly as a wolfish grin grew on his face, "Heard that mutt face, she's getting the _family_ discount. _Dick_."

"Koga! What the _hell_?" Kagome hissed angrily as she threw her hands into the air in frustration, " _That's_...is this _really_... just _why_?"

The wolf demon chuckled to himself as he put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "Well, I thought that might wake him up but I was wrong. My bad."

"Wha… _wait_ , why didn't you just take him there _first_?!" Kagome asked as she sent him an accusatory glare, "Wouldn't that have been _easier_?"

"Nope," Koga chuckled as he reached over and grabbed the chart, "He went where he needed to go at the time."

Before Kagome had the chance to make heads or tails of that response, the sound of a helicopter overhead made her decide it wasn't something worth arguing about.

 **XXXXX**

A few days passed. Then a week. Then two weeks and Inuyasha had still not opened his eyes. In all that time, Kagome never left his side. The guilt sat not on her chest but inside her brain. What she had done she could not un-do. She'd all but killed him with that kiss, which in retrospect was a completely stupid and asinine thing to do. Koga wasn't help her nerves at all. He kept insisting that everything was going to be fine and that there was no need for concern. If he knew something, he'd better damn tell her! She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown here!

"Okay, can you _at least_ tell me if we defeat Naraku?" Kagome hissed angrily as she tried for the umpteenth time to get him to tell her anything that might let her know Inuyasha wasn't going to die.

"Not telling you that, Kagome," Koga sighed exasperatedly, "I can't tell you anything except that I see he's been improving steadily. We aren't sure why he hasn't woken up but his vital signs _are_ stabilizing."

"Just tell me," Kagome begged as her chest heaved and tears welled in the corners of her eyes, "Please. _Please_ , just tell me."

Koga gave her a sympathetic look and sighed, "I…I just _can't_ Kagome. I'm sorry."

And Kagome officially lost it.

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha felt trapped. He could smell Kagome's tears. He could hear her begging him to open his eyes and feel her slender fingers scratching at the base of his ears before running down his hair. He could hear that incessant, infernal beeping of his heart monitor. Yet he couldn't do anything – not move, not speak, not open his eyes, _nothing_. It was torture.

There were two silver linings to this bullshit, however. One was that Kagome didn't smell sick, which meant he'd panicked and gotten himself into this mess over nothing. The other was that he was actually feeling a lot more like himself than he had in months. He could tell it was easier for him to breathe and the ache in his muscles was slowly fading away. The bad thing about that was he wasn't sure whether that meant he was getting _better_ or whether he was just dying and had gotten to the point where his body was shutting down. He really hoped it wasn't the latter. He wasn't a man who wanted a lot out of life but he'd _really_ like to kiss Kagome again.

 **XXXXX**

Koga winced and called for a nurse as Kagome went into full blown hysterics and began to hyperventilate.

"Kagome, you need to lay down. You're going into shock, you need to…" Koga tried to explain in an even, steady tone of voice but trailed off when he realized she was beyond hearing him and was getting to the point where she was going to cut off her own oxygen in her panic, "Dammit Kagome, don't make me have to sedate you! _Calm_ **_down_**."

She either didn't hear him or didn't care so Koga did the only thing he could do. With a heavy sigh, he took the sedative from the nurse and pushed the shot gently into her leg. As she went limp and began to collapse, the last thing she heard was Koga muttering under his breath something he probably didn't mean for her to hear.

 _"_ _Oh, you guys owe me so many free dinners for all this bullshit and I'm no cheap date either."_

As Koga passed the unconscious Kagome over to the nurse, he plopped into the chair Kagome'd been in moments before only to jump when his phone began to ring. Pulling from his pocket, he groaned internally and answered. For a moment, he merely listened and rolled his sapphire eyes until a grin broke over his face and he barked out a laugh, "Damn _right_ you owe me dinner..."


	16. Chapter 16

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

It was _such_ a gorgeous day. Leaning back against the tree bark, Inuyasha sighed happily and sprawled out on the branch. It was crazy how much had changed over the past few weeks. While almost losing his soul to Kaguya's mirror was one of the scariest things he'd ever been through - not that'd he ever admit it - it was worth it. When Kagome crashed her lips down on his, he'd finally admitted to himself how much she meant to him. He'd been lying to himself for a really long time. It felt so natural to grow closer to the girl, to have him by his side, to become accustomed to the way she made his heart flutter and butterflies bloom in his stomach when she gave him her signature award winning smile. Never in his life had he felt he'd have somewhere to belong yet now he'd finally found a place and, for the first time, he wasn't the only person in it. He wasn't alone anymore and as the days moved onward, he was beginning to remember how wonderful it felt like to be loved unconditionally. Oh, they still fought like cats and dogs - Shippo was always creative and that metaphor needed to be given credit where credit was due - but they made up for it in private with equal vigor. Life was going to be...

As Inuyasha sighed, the soft smile on his face quickly morphed into a frown. Kagome wasn't due back until tomorrow yet her scent was fresh as though she'd come back. Well, that was odd. His heart clenched painfully in his chest as he sat up and took in his surroundings. Her scent was quickly being intermingled with the crisp scent of water, which didn't make any sense. Closing his eyes, he strained his ears and his heart skipped a beat when he heard the tell tale sounds of someone drowning. And it was not just _anyone_.

 **XXXXX**

"I thought it'd be best to call you," the nurse breathed as she watched Koga examining the non-responsive patient, "I noticed the arrhythmia started about thirty minutes ago."

Koga growled low in his chest and grimaced as he placed his stethoscope against Inuyasha's chest. The mutt's pulse was fluttering and a little too fast for his liking which was never a good sign. Pulling back, Koga chewed the inside of his chest for a moment before he shoved his hands into his coat pocket and sighed heavily.

"You did the right thing calling me. I need you to run an EKG, schedule an echo, and do another blood panel. Call me the second those results come in."

 **XXXXX**

Sprinting across the meadow towards the river, Inuyasha could swear he felt his heart skipping beats inside his chest. Kagome had to be alright, he'd never be able to forgive himself if she wasn't. Her scent was growing so weak, like it'd been washed away entirely. He needed to get to her _and_ fast.

 **XXXXX**

"Well, _shit_ ," Koga groaned as he read over the test results. Turning towards the small computer station, he sighed and rubbed his hand over his face before typing the new orders, "When did the girl leave?"

"Maybe three, four hours ago, I think" the nurse whispered anxiously as she wrung her hands, "She said she'd be back in by lunch time."

"Well, start a nitroglycerin drip," he ordered exasperatedly as he glanced at the nurse out of the corner of his eye, "and start him on some diuretics as well for good measure. His systolic blood pressure is far too high. I want you to check on his vitals every fifteen minutes until it stabilizes."

The nurse nodded and quickly scurried through the door. Taking a deep breath, Koga ran his fingers through his tussled ebony hair and turned to leave the room.

 **XXXXX**

When he saw her his heart fluttered in his chest.

One minute she was treading water and then, just like that, Kagome sank like a stone. Without hesitation, Inuyasha immediately dived in after her, swimming straight down in a desperate attempt to catch up with her.

Kagome was looking up at him with wild, frantic eyes, her head stretching toward him always just beyond his grasp. It was becoming increasingly harder to breathe and he could tell she had lost the battle as the bubbles from her desperate attempts to breathe drifted up towards him.

Inuyasha was fast reaching the point where he knew that even if he reached her, he wouldn't have the oxygen to make it back to the surface and yet he continued swimming, resolved to not let her die alone.

For all his efforts, she was sinking away from him faster than he could swim toward her. Inuyasha watched her slip further and further away, the image of her growing blurrier and blurrier in the murky water.

 **XXXXX**

 ** _"RAPID RESPONSE TEAM NEEDED IN ROOM 815. RAPID RESPONSE NEEDED."_**

" ** _DAMMIT_**!" Koga hissed as he flew back into the room. That bastard had just begun to stabilize, what the hell happened and where the _fuck_ was Kagome?! A quick glance at the hanyou was all he needed to realize what was wrong, "How long ago did the tachypnea start?

"It increased to 45 breaths per minute four, maybe five or six minutes ago," the nurse responded shakily as she continued the chest compressions in a desperate attempt to regulate his breathing, "I was with another patient...I didn't...I'm sorry."

"I'm not upset at _you_. Don't apologize for something that's not your fault," Koga reassured her hastily before turning to another nurse who burst through the door, "Continue compressions. _You_! Get a CPAP started ASAP and increase oxygen."

Of _all_ the times for Kagome to go awol, it _would_ be when the mutt decided to take a turn for the worse.


	17. Chapter 17

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

As Kagome walked towards the village, she couldn't hide her growing grin.

Inuyasha was going to live. They were going to be together. Naraku was going to bite the dust. The wind tunnel would be a distant thing, only alive in memories. Sango would get justice for her comrades and family. Kikyo would be avenged and would finally leave Inuyasha the fuck alone. This day really couldn't get any better.

She didn't feel guilty about leaving for a few hours. Surely, Inuyasha wouldn't wake up at this point and even if he did, he'd forgive her when he learned she went to check on their friends to make sure they didn't catch it. She'd tell him what she'd heard and he'd learn he wasn't going to die, which would make his millennia. Everything was finally going to be okay.

Kagome was so lost in her euphoria that she failed to notice the poisonous insect floating menacingly above her.

 **XXXXX**

"So she's returned and without Inuyasha," Naraku mused as he watched the miko walk towards the village through Kanna's mirror, "How _interesting_."

 **XXXXX**

Beyond the horizon, the sun illuminated the shimmering haze of pollution. In the far distance, the silhouette of the skyline pierced through the warm glow like a jagged mountain ridge. Millions of lights caused the dense mass of skyscrapers glitter. People were needle points and cars were blood cells flowing through the veins of the city. Despite the time, the hustle and bustle never came to a halt. Tokyo's residents were probably off watching a movie or chilling out in a smoky nightclub downtown while he was freaking stuck babysitting a comatose hanyou and watching from the hospital window.

Kagome had been gone for a week. A full god damn week during which he'd been having a heart attack that some other god awful thing would occur and then he'd have to explain to an overdramatic teenager what happened which would probably spur another fit of hysterics that he really didn't want to deal with.

They'd flat out refused to tell him what to expect. They refused to tell him what the delay was except that she was in the feudal era and she would, _indeed_ , come back. It wasn't like he was capable of going to the past and fucking anything up. He didn't understand why they were avoiding telling him anything. What was the _worst_ thing that could really happen?

 **XXXXX**

Kagome was absolutely heartsick. One of Naraku's puppets had attacked within hours of her arrival and, in the midst of the battle, managed to destroy the well. All that was left was a mountain of broken wood and just like Humpty Dumpty, the Inutaichi couldn't put it together again. That isn't to say they weren't trying. They'd been trying all damn week and had the splinters to prove it. The wood may be destroyed but Kagome kept up hope that the portal was far less fragile. It had to be. She flat out refused to believe otherwise.

"Kagome-chan, we're getting close to the bottom," Sango grunted as she pulled on the rope of the makeshift pulley they'd created, "If what you said was true, you'll find a way back or he'll find a way here."

Kagome's nodded and sighed as she picked up her umpteenth bundle of debris, "I shouldn't have said anything. It was tempting fate."

"Everyone alright down there?" Miroku's voice rang out from above making both of the women jump, "It's about the time we agreed to switch out you two fine ladies with Shippo and I."

"We're fine," Sango called back as she stretched her arm in front of her, " We could use an extra pair of arms down here though. We're almost to the bottom."

"Do you want me or Shippo?" Miroku inquired before adding playfully, "I mean, naturally you want _me_ dearest Sango."

"No, I want Shippo down here. Sorry," Sango clipped back as she rolled her eyes. Miroku stuck his face over the side and pouted, "Dearest Sango, you misunderstand me. I merely meant to help, nothing more."

"Good try but not buying it," Sango quipped back as she sent the monk a knowing glare, "You can help by getting us some water and lowering it down."

"Anything you wish, Sango," Miroku grumbled before disappearing from view. Sango sighed before turning back towards Kagome and blanching, "Oh, Kagome-chan, don't cry! We're almost there! It'll be fine! It'll all be just fine."

 **XXXXX**

The following afternoon the well had officially been cleared but…no matter how many times Kagome jumped down it, the blasted thing wouldn't work. On what seemed her hundredth time, all pretense of quiet coping was lost and she sank to the cold, damp earth not caring about the moisture that quickly soaked through the traditional priestess garb she'd been reduced to wearing. The tears trickled silently down her face as she stared blankly ahead.

She should've _never_ left. In retrospect, it seemed so, _so_ stupid and a _monumental_ leap in logic to have assumed that Koga had meant their future selves. It'd been wishful thinking on her part, nothing more, nothing less.

Soon an hour passed and she heard Sango calling her name as she searched for her missing friend. Stumbling clumsily to her feet, Kagome sighed and began climbing up the makeshift ladder.

"I'm here, Sango-chan," Kagome managed to choke out as she pulled herself onto the soft meadow grass, "I haven't gone anywhere."

As the two women walked solemnly back to the village, they missed the slowly growing vines emerging from the freshly overturned earth.

 **XXXXX**

The floorboards creaked beneath his bare feet as he paced anxiously to and fro, flipping through page after page of the medical report until he finally threw it against the wall in his frustration. The stress spread through his mind like ink on paper as he took in a deep, ragged breath and he turned to flop onto the couch. The stupid mutt's vitals were declining at a rapid pace. Several of his organs were approaching the beginning stages of failure, he was struggling to breathe and the last several EKGs were abnormal. The only thing that kept him sane was the knowledge that Inuyasha survived… _somehow_.

The more he thought about it, the more he remembered signs here and there of potential long-term complications. The mutt bruised easy but if he really racked his brain, Koga couldn't remember him bruising easily when they first met. Same thing with clumsiness. How many times had he ragged on him for tripping over his own two feet over the centuries…but he'd been graceful way back then. Not to say that he wasn't still a fierce and deadly opponent, just…

Koga sighed and rubbed the side of his temple. He was reading too much into things. _Anyone_ could have those symptoms, if you could even _call_ them that. They could mean any number of things _including_ something as simple as not paying attention to where you were going. Maybe he just hadn't seen any of the mutt's injuries before and he'd _always_ bruised easily.

To be fair, he hadn't exactly hung out with Inuyasha _until_ about two hundred years after they defeated Naraku when guns became commonplace and humans began to outnumber demons in general. Every demon worth their salt banded together to form alliances and those that didn't were hunted to extinction, which strangely left only those demons intelligent enough to be capable of merging into human society. They formed their own cities, their own networks, their own everything until…

It would be a waste of time to call and ask. It wasn't like they'd tell him anything anyhow which was probably for a good reason. He'd just have to trust that they knew what they were doing, just like they were trusting him. Sighing heavily, Koga leaned over and picked up the medical charts again. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he plucked the pen from behind his ear and began to make notations about possible ways to prevent a worst-case scenario.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Sorry! I messed up the other day and posted this by accident before it was done! Forgive me! .**

 **XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

There were certain things about humans that Koga would never understand but coffee was not one of them. All he needed in the morning was the daily paper and a good cup of joe to start the day off right. The problem was half of the time _certain_ people wouldn't start a new batch when they finished it off or buy coffee grounds when they had run out which had led to his current predicament and added to his _already_ shitty mood. As he rubbed the side of his temple and seriously considered running down the street to get some of that god awful Starbucks mocha choca bullshit that was all the rage these days, the most welcome scent in the world suddenly drifted down the hall along with the scent of his old friend who had undoubtedly come to check on the non-responsive hanyou.

The moment, nay the very second, Ichiro gently rapped his knuckles on the wooden office door, it flung open and the designer coffee had had brought his friend was ripped from his hands.

"This one's mine right? Oh, I could kiss you right now, you beautiful, beautiful man," Koga enthusiastically exclaimed as he took the lid off and inhaled deeply. Pausing for a brief second, he arched his brow and snickered before taking a sip, "What no sutras today?"

"Oh my no. With my luck, it'd actually work and then where would we be?" the old man sighed playfully as he moved into the office and plopped down into the leather armchair. Koga snorted as he nodded appreciatively. Walking back around to his desk chair, he kicked his feet up onto his desk and exhaled dejectedly, "So, Kagome still hasn't come back? It's been over a week. What do you think happened?"

"Who knows?" Ichiro sighed as he leaned back and closed his eyes, "The truth is I never know what she's doing over there or whether she'll ever come back so your guess is as good as mine."

"I really couldn't tell you either," Koga groaned as he rolled his eyes, "Those two fucking idiots both flat out refuse to tell me anything until all this shits said and done."

Ichiro bit his lip and fought back the snort that so desperately wanted to escape as he leaned back and waited for his friend to realize what he'd done. For an embarrassing long period of time, Koga continued to review the chart and take sips of his coffee as he made idle chit chat about this and that. Ichiro merely nodded and answered appropriately as he slowly lost the battle to keep the grin off his face. With a heavy sigh Koga leaned back to reach for a binder near his desk when suddenly, he froze and whipped his head towards his friend in mild horror. After a few tense seconds, Ichiro smirked and took a sip of his coffee, "Don't mind me. I've kept bigger secrets than that. At least I don't have to come up with a new disease every day over this one."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Koga chuckled nervously, "You know you can't tell either of them or even Hana or Souta, right?"

"What do you take me for a fool?" the grandfather scoffed indignantly, "I have more sense than that."

"I always knew there was a reason I liked you," Koga grinned before lowering his feet off his desk, "Well now that's out in the open, what do you think? He seems to be getting worse and his vitals are plummeting. What would the reason be for keeping information from me as their freaking medical doctor?"

"Perhaps they think you might accidentally change the course of history if you knew how it was supposed to play out," Ichiro mused, "The butterfly effect is what they call it I believe."

"Yeah, but _what_ butterfly are they trying to stop me from stepping on?" Koga sighed as he began to scribble on one of the x-rays, "What do they think I would do?"

"I guess you'll just have to find out," the elderly would be priest sighed before sending a playful smirk at his old friend, "We'll all find out eventually and then you and I can give them what for."

 **XXXXX**

Slowly, Inuyasha forced himself to get up out of the dirt but he quickly realized how futile it was when he had to bite his lip from crying out. Sharp pain laced through his body and colorful spots danced before his eyes.

All he had done was taken a piece of fruit from the orchard. It had been weeks since he'd eaten anything of substance and the gnawing in his stomach was driving him slowly into madness. All his life he'd been cared for and fed. He didn't know how to hunt, didn't know how to fish and he had to learn the hard way which plants were safe to eat and which ones weren't.

Every square inch of his small body had been beaten and every movement caused his muscles to scream out in agony.

"How is he still moving?" one man yelled incredulously as he stormed over and yanked the small boy up by his ear, causing him to yelp loudly, "Just cut his throat and let's be done with it."

"No, _please_ ," the child sobbed as he began thrashing weakly, " _Please_ , I'll ...I'll leave and never come back. I'll do anything. _Please_ , _**please**_ just let me go."

"What so you can come back with your friends and murder us all in our beds? How stupid do you think we are, demon?" the scoffed cruelly as wrapped his free hand around the small neck. Inuyasha struggled to breathe and his vision blurred as the man clamped down.

"I...I _don't_...have... _anyone_. I...just...let me _go_ ," the boy gasped hoarsely as he scratched at the man's hand leaving deep gouges that mercifully had the man stumbling backwards.

"Well don't just stand there! **_Kill him_**!" The man screamed as he clutched his mutilated hand, " ** _what're you waiting for?!_** "

As the young boy massaged his throat and fought to catch his breath, he realized, as the men closed in on all sides, that the only way out of this was to kill.

 **XXXXX**

Rain pummeled lightly against the window creating a light rushing sound that contrasted sharply against the persistent beeping and the soft sound of air being forced into the poor boy's lungs. Hana put down her knitting as she rose from the visitor's chair and moved to the unconscious boy's side.

He looked so fragile. Like the slightest gust of wind might blow him away. It was incredibly sad that this strong boy who had managed to survive so long when the odds were against him and who had risked his life over and over for her daughter was reduced to this. As she gently ran the back of her hand down his face, a single tear broke free and slid silently down her face as she whispered to him gently.

" _You'll be alright. It'll be alright."_

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha slumped to his knees as the last man fell, still trying fruitlessly to quell the gush of blood pouring from his throat. This was how his life would be from now on. Hunted by men and demons alike. There was no place in this world for someone like him. No place for him to go. No one to rely upon.

Releasing a shaky sigh, the body unsteadily rose to his feet and began to stumble away with a determined look growing on his face.

So be it then. There was no place for him in the world of men and monsters so he'd become the lone inhabitant of a world of his own. A single tear slid down his face as he slowly made his way through the forest before he finally succumbed to the pain and slumped against the nearest tree.

Some people revel in the feeling of being alone but, for him, it was his worst nightmare. As he closed his eyes, he bit back tears and tried to imagine a world in which he belonged.

For a blissful moment, the line between reality and his fantasy blurred and he could've sworn _someone_ was there.

 _"You'll be alright. It'll be alright."_


	19. Chapter 19

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

The ocean cliffs ran ragged, the rocky shore shifting annoyingly under his weight resting his agility and strength as he charged onward beside the sea, silver hair fluttering in the air behind him. Every breath of the salty air made the ever present tension in his muscles slowly melt away. Here he was alone. Away from prying eyes and constant fear. It was quiet and he loved that the only sound was the gentle rushing of the waves as they crashed onto the beach and the seagulls as they flew overhead.

 _Nothing_ could touch him.

 **XXXXX**

Hana sighed as she rested her chin on her arm and gazed out at the Tokyo skyline. It'd been a week and a half now that Kagome had gone missing but she knew her little girl. There was no possible scenario she could think of in which she'd voluntarily stay away from this poor boy who held her heart. Something had gone wrong on the other side of the well, terribly wrong. As much as she tried to avoid tempting fate, she couldn't stop the twinge of fear in her heart that perhaps her brave little girl had...

The air seemed to crackle ominously around her. Something was wrong but as she glanced around, she couldn't see anything that would cause her great alarm. Everything was as it had been only moments before down to the monotonous sounds that she'd all but learned to block out at this point.

For the past several days, the monitor had steadily and continuously beeped in a slow, even rhythm. One day after the next as though a truck had been backing up at a painfully slow pace from a comedic distance. Hours of listening had made it merely a white noise, as easy to ignore as the sounds of traffic rushing outside the shrine. In that moment, however, a switch flipped in Hana's head as she realized the truck had suddenly decided to pick up the pace.

 **XXXXX**

As Inuyasha pushed himself off the rock laden sand he'd just been thrown onto after the ground shifted suddenly beneath him, he froze. Before him, the shoreline was boiling and bubbling in a way he'd never seen before but in a way that had his hair raising on end.

As he stood and lazily stretched his arms above his head, amber eyes remained fixated on the angry frothing of the water as it grew in its intensity and then he heard the angry roar. Lifting his gaze in alarm, his amber eyes widened and his heart fluttered in his chest. It was the most incredible thing he'd ever seen. Waves, bigger than he had even imagined were possible, were barreling towards the shore as tall and formidable as the very biggest of demons.

He needed to run.  
 _Now_.

 **XXXXX**

The second the heart rate monitor began to escalate the boy began to convulse and all hell broke lose. As the nurses quickly maneuvered him onto his side, his arms and legs jerked rapidly in a sadistically rhythmic fashion as his face turned a nasty shade of blue. It was going on three minutes with no signs of slowing down when Koga flew in the door and took control of the situation.

"Administer 2 mg lorazepam and 2 mg lorazepam DRX simultaneously stat," Koga ordered in a flat, weary tone as he gently pushed aside one of the nurses. One of the nurses froze and stared at him incredulously , " _ **Both**_? But he's..."

" _ **Both**_ ," Koga spat back, "and do it quick. We're going on five minutes of clonic seizures here. Once it's passed, I need a CT ordered and blood panel drawn immediately."

After a long, long, long night, Koga had come to realization that Inuyasha was a special case. Thanks to his lineage, his demonic blood was much more prevalent than the average half-demon. That much he already knew. All that being said, his youkai was unstable and he felt utterly miserable that the potential ramifications of something he had known for centuries had never occurred to him. He wasn't getting better because of those fluctuations. What would work one minute would be completely useless the next depending on which way the winds of chance blew. His demon half and his human half fighting for dominance over the other, the very thing that made him who he was, was the thing that'd probably kill him if Koga didn't find a solution and fast.

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha didn't even have time to think before the wave swept him away. Fear flooded his system and he was already suffocating from the sheer pressure weighing down against his chest. The wave that hit him was nothing like the waves that broke gently on the shore. It was a veritable wall of water, cold and powerful as it slammed him mercilessly against the ragged stone cliffs, his arms and legs jerking desperately as they tried to find something, _anything_ to grab onto fruitlessly as the wave continued to rush towards him pushing him and everything in its path towards the mainland.

As the raging water pushed him farther inland, Inuyasha had ceased his erratic struggling and focused his quickly declining energy on keeping his head above water. It'd had rushed so far across the land that it'd started hitting villages and in the distance he saw a stranded girl atop a mountain cliff.

As soon as she saw him, she screamed and began frantically motioning for him to try to get closer. It was near impossible but somehow he'd managed to get close enough to be _just_ out of reaching distance to grab hold of the rocky outcropping.

As he sighed and resigned himself to his fate, he felt her hand grab his and he panicked knowing that his momentum would merely pull her in with him. Glancing over his shoulder to scream at her to let go, amber eyes widened in disbelief as the girl gripped a root with all her might and began struggling to pull him up. The girl shimmered and blurred for a moment until she suddenly morphed into a strange looking woman wearing the most scandalous outfit he'd ever seen, her blue eyes watering with tears as she doubled her efforts to save him.

 _"You're safe. I've got you. You're going to be alright."_

And then the world went dark.


	20. Chapter 20

**a/n: story is complete. went ahead and finished it off.**

 **XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"He's not here, so if that's why you've come you're wasting your time," Kagome sighed dejectedly as she stared into the well now covered in writhing vines. She'd come that morning just as she had every morning to try yet again only to find this final kick in the pants. Kikyo followed Kagome's gaze and deflated visibly.

"He's on the other side isn't he?" Kikyo whispered softly before she cleared her throat and began a little more forcefully, seemingly reluctant to ask the question on her mind, "Is he…is he…"

Any semblance of calm that Kagome had managed to maintain thus far flew out of the window as she and raised her bloodshot eyes, "Is he _what_?!"

The anger coursing through her veins suddenly was replaced by cold regret as she saw the solemn, imploring look in Kikyo's eyes that told the truth behind the stoic mask that seemingly never left her face. She knew. Kikyo knew he was sick and that he was dying. _That_ was why she came.

"Last time," Kagome's voice cracked before she cleared her tight throat and tried again as a single tear slid down her face, "Last time I saw him he was alive. He's…he's not waking up though…not _anymore_."

" _Oh_ ," Kikyo breathed softly as she hesitantly moved closer to the well and began to rifle in her robes before she paused and let out a shuddering breath, "Did…did he ever tell you about…about us?"

"I really don't…" Kagome began heatedly as she turned to leave only to feel Kikyo's hand wrap gently around her wrist.

"Please wait. I…I didn't mean…," Kikyo stuttered uncharacteristically as she placed her hand into her hakama, "I…I brought something."

Before Kagome could tear her wrist free, Kikyo placed a small smooth object in her reincarnation's palm.

"Its…its not the same one," Kikyo whispered shakily as she gently closed Kagome's fingers around the small object, "But…but I tried to make it as close as I could remember."

Curiously, Kagome turned and held up the translucent shell flat on her palm, "What is it?"

"When…when we were _together_ , he gave me his mother's lip stain," Kikyo whispered as she lowered her eyes and intently stared at the well with a small smile playing on her lips before the stoic mask fell back into place, "Naraku destroyed it after he attacked me. That… _that_ was just yet another moment I should have known it wasn't him. It was the last thing he had of her."

"Why give it to _me_?" Kagome whispered incredulously as tears welled up in the corners of her sapphire eyes before she found herself fighting back yet another round of sobs as she mumbled miserably, " _I_ can't give it to him. I'm stuck here."

"I know," Kikyo responded as she gave Kagome a watery smile and took a shaky breath, "But since he…I was going to give it back to him. I…I overheard some of the villagers talking…and I wanted…"

Kikyo bit her lip and closed her eyes painfully as a few tears broke free, "Its strange when someone is gone, you realize how much they mean to you. I…I didn't understand."

Taking a small step backs, Kagome clutched the small shell to her chest and gave the woman before her a frightened glance as the dead miko continued brokenly, "If…if he….they should've been someone who…"

Kikyo paused and the stoic mask she'd been able to keep up crumbled as her bottom lip trembled and she gazed longingly down into the well. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she pressed on, "I've….I've come to realize he _should've_ given it to…to _you_. I…I wanted to give him that chance since he…I know its not…. but if he cannot then…"

Without a second thought, Kagome rushed forward and embraced the dead miko, trying to convey her thanks and gratitude for this strange yet loving gift. To the miko's shock, Kikyo wrapped her arms around her just as tightly and for a moment, the two women clung to each other as tears streamed down their faces and they grieved for the man they both loved.

After a minute, Kikyo pulled back and gave Kagome a watery smile, "I…I want to try to return you to him, if you will allow me to do so. He…he needs _you_ beside him."

 **XXXXX**

The nurse entered the room and immediately turned to wash her hands at the sink as she sighed heavily. The poor thing had _definitely_ been having a hard time of it and he'd been doing so much better up until that point too. His little heart was struggling, his little organs were beginning to fail, and on top of the emergency cricothyrotomy and the breathing tube they'd inserted after he began choking on his own blood, his little girlfriend had disappeared off the face of the earth just when he needed her most.

She hadn't been on duty that day but she'd heard all about it the next morning. Koga had been beside himself for not doing it sooner – which was terrifying in itself to most of the clan– yet had managed to stay calm enough to do the incision flawlessly into the hanyou's throat as blood dribbled thickly out of the poor thing's mouth. There was a reason Koga was still their fearless leader. He was the best at what he did whether it was kicking another demon's ass or performing spectacularly under pressure. While he wasn't perfect, they'd all follow him anywhere.

As she dried her hands and turned, her sapphire eyes dilated in fear as the heart monitor began to beep wildly.

 **XXXXX**

As Inuyasha looked around at the yellow flames as they flickered and danced with no thought to the forest they consumed, his first thought was of his friends. There was something unnatural about this inferno. Something just didn't feel right. He needed to make sure they were safe. As the knot grew in the pit of his stomach, a scream had his head whipping towards the source.

" _ **It's Inuyasha! Run!**_ " Miroku bellowed as he grabbed Sango's hand and tugged firmly when she merely stared at the hanyou in horror, " _ **Dammit Sango, he's made his choice. There's nothing we can do. Do you want to be next?!"**_

' _Choice? What choice_?' Inuyasha thought incredulously, quite taken aback by this turn of events, ' _I sure as hell didn't make..._ '

Then the scent hit him and his heart faltered in his chest as his eyes fell upon Kagome lying like a doll amidst the flames, her extremities at irregular angles, her head held in such a way that it was clear she was not sleeping as blood oozed sluggishly out of a gaping hole in her chest onto the smoldering earth.

Crimson red eyes dilated in fear and confusion as felt something dripping off his hand. As he looked down and saw his blood stained claws, he involuntarily stumbled backwards, desperate to make as much distance between himself and the fresh corpse. Inuyasha's breath began to come in ragged, uneven pants and he clutched at his chest as his heart beat painfully.

 _He...he had done this. He had killed Kagome_.

 **XXXXX**

"His heart rates 160 and rising" the nurse whispered anxiously before turning and flinging open the door, " _ **Someone find Koga! This patient's going into cardiac arrest!**_ "

 **XXXXX**

All he could do is stare in horror as the woman he loved began to stir, the hole in her chest more and more pronounced as she stood and began unsteadily stumbling towards him.

"Kagome, you need to...," Inuyasha began frantically as his gaze flickered between the zombified miko and his claws, his inability to breathe becoming more and more pronounced, "It wasn't me. I...I didn't do this."

"Yes. You _did_ ," Kagome whispered eerily as the world lurched and was thrown into reverse.

 **XXXXX**

"Blood pressure 186/120. Pulse 190. _Someone grab a doctor_ _**dammit**_!" the nurse bellowed frantically as she slammed her hands onto his rapidly rising chest and began compressions, " _ **What's taking so long**_?!"

 **XXXXX**

He was in hell. He was dead and this was hell.

The blood pouring from her chest never gushed over his wrist in a constant flow but in time with the beating of her heart. At first it would come thick and strong, flowing sickeningly over his fingers as he clutched the throbbing muscle until it slowed as his hand clamped down and pulled the beating heart from her chest. For a moment she would look up at him, love evident in her eyes despite what he'd just done, breaking his heart when she smiled weakly, running her fingers gently down his cheek as the light left her eyes. And then the ritual began again.

Tears streamed down his face as he fought the all too familiar pull but no amount of will power could stop it. The minute the world stopped spinning he would see her, wearing the same school uniform and looking _so_ devastatingly beautiful as she approached him, concern all over her face.

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered quietly as she reached for him, "you _still_ recognize me don't you?"

No matter how hard he tried to warn her the words refused to come and he clenched his eyes shut as his hand plunged sickeningly into her chest on its own accord.

"I'm _sorry_ ," he sobbed as his claws wrapped around the throbbing organ for the hundreth time, "I'm _so_ sorry."

 **XXXXX**

The heart rate monitor's tempo kept gaining momentum, going faster _and_ faster _and_ faster until suddenly, it went flat.

For a second the nurse paused in her ministrations and stared in horror at the screen before screaming loud enough that probably everyone in the building heard her, " _ **For the love of...somebody grab an AED god dammit and sound a code blue stat!"**_


	21. Chapter 21

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"Are you ready?" Kikyo asked as she pulled back her arrow and her reincarnation did the same. As Kagome nodded with a determined look on her face, Kikyo smiled and turned her focus back onto the vine covered well, "On my count, one... _two_..."

 **XXXXX**

Coffee was nature's gift to mankind. Humans had invented many things over the centuries but this was by far his favorite. As Koga settled into his morning routine and picked up the day's newspaper, the blue lights flashed and sirens began blaring as Ginta burst into his office.

" ** _BOSS! CODE BLUE! IT'S…"_**

"Let me guess. _His_ room," Koga groaned as he slammed his coffee down on his desk and rolled up his sleeves, "I'm going to _fucking_ kill him."

As the two wolves charged down the hallway, Ginta furrowed his brow and casting a confused glance at his fearless leader, "Aren't we...aren't we going to _save_ him?"

"Yep," Koga answered as he slid to a stop in front of the door, "But I'm going to kill him the minute this one wakes up."

 **XXXXX**

It had worked. By some miracle, their combined arrows had worked and she had finally, finally made it back. Completely out of breath, Kagome had just barely rushed through the automatic sliding doors when the lights started flashing and the sirens began. Taking a moment, she placed her hands on her knees and had just managed to collect herself before her heart skipped a beat when heard the room number.

 _No_.

In a flash, she broke out in a dead run as tears streamed down her face. Her limbs moved on their own and she felt disconnected from everything but the ever present sound of her drumming heart and the continuous siren that screamed something was wrong...reminding her that she _hadn't_ been there.

 **XXXXX**

" _ **Ginta**_ , draw up 1 mg IV epinephrine."  
"1 mg IV epinephrine drawn. Do you want me to administer it now?"  
"No, hold it until the next pulse check. _**Chiyo**_ , how long ago was the last shock?"  
"Going on three minutes."  
"I want everyone to hold compressions while we do a pulse check."  
"Holding compressions."  
"Okay, we've got an organized rhythm on the monitor, but… _ **dammit**_ , _still_ no pulse. _Resume_ compressions. _**Ginta**_ , give that epinephrine now."  
"1 mg IV epinephrine, going in now."  
"Alright… _ **oh for the love of**_...someone get _Kagome_ **_out of here_**! _**Chiyo**_ , administer the shock in _three_... _ **two**_..."

" _ **Clear**_!"


	22. Chapter 22

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

"Lady Kaede, how on _earth_ did this happen?" Miroku asked incredulously as he stared at the well, which continued, _amazingly_ , to be _the_ well. Earlier that morning, they had all been anxiously repairing their weapons and praying that Kagome had made her way back home when a blast of spiritual energy lighting up the sky had sent them all running towards the meadow.

"The Tree of Ages has a mind of its own, it appears," the elderly miko chuckled as she rapped her knuckles against the fresh bark, "As far as I know, the well appeared nearly a century ago in a similar fashion. At the time, the inhabitants of the newly formed village believed they must have missed it when they surveyed the forest but it appears that was not the case."

" _Incredible_ ," Sango breathed as she ran her hand over the lip, "I almost can't believe something like this could happen."

"Well, best ye not question too much," Kaede chided gently as she turned to return to the still uninhabited village, "Ye do not want to tempt fate."

In the forest, Kikyo watched them with a small smile on her lips as they continued marvel at the well that had appeared moments after Kagome disappeared in a flash of blue light. She too knew better than to question destiny.

 **XXXXX**

"Well, I'm calling it," Koga sighed heavily as cast a weary glance at his watch, "Time of death 8:34 am. _No one_ tell her and _no one_ let her in until I say so. I've got a call to make. _Several_ in fact."

 **XXXXX**

Kagome was in pure and utter shock. Her legs simply gave out as she collapsed against the nearest wall. She'd just made the biggest mistake of her life by leaving him. Maybe if she hadn't left…if she had stayed...

Biting back tears, she tried to scrub the sound of the flat line on the heart monitor from her mind but it rung out in her head like a bell. Grief surged through her with every expelled breath. In that moment the sure knowledge that life would go on without him, that time was only stopped for her, undid her completely as she buried her face in her hands and cried.

 **XXXXX**

Koga stood outside, leaning against the cement exterior with a lit cigarette in his trembling hand. He hadn't smoked in decades but _that_ was probably the most traumatizing thing he'd had to deal with in a _long_ while. As much as they used to hate each other, Inuyasha had become one of his best friends over the centuries so while he knew this wasn't _really_ the day he died, having to call the time of death was more painful than it should've been. It'd done wonders for his nerves when he answered the phone and Koga heard his snarky voice putting him straight. If he _hadn't_ answered the phone…

Taking another long drag of his cigarette, Koga kept an eye out for their youngest brat. If what that dog turd had said was true, his younger self wouldn't recognize the scent…which didn't _really_ surprise him. Inuyasha was a smart guy overall but sometimes he could really be an _idiot_. She smelled _just_ like them.

"Took you long enough," Koga spat out as he dropped the cigarette and ground it out with his foot. Giving the young woman a once over, he rolled his eyes and held out his hand, "Give me that sword. _Why_ didn't you put it in a guitar case or something? It's _already_ possible she'll recognize you. She doesn't need to see _you_ with that thing. And did you _have_ to wear _red_ today?"

"Well, don't blame me for taking so long or what I had on me, blame _Dad_ ," the young woman grumbled as she thrust the sword into his hand before reaching up and pulling out her ponytail. As she ran her fingers through her silver mane, the girl quickly began to make a single french braid out of it, "I _would've_ gotten here sooner if _somebody_ had told me to be prepared but _noooo_. So I had to rush out of class on the _other_ side of freaking town _and_ swing by Uncle's first with like _no_ notice."

"We can kill him when this is over," Koga growled as the girl finished her long plait and gently placed it over her shoulder before smirking at the wolf demon, "How about _I_ hold him down while _you_ kick?"

"Deal," Koga chuckled as the girl pulled out a small mirror and examined herself, "Do you think this makes me look less recognizable? It should mask my scent a little better too. Less likely to linger."

Koga tilted his head to the side as he glanced at the girl he'd known all her life before shaking his head and sighing heavily, "Just don't let _her_ see you and if she does, you know the drill."

It'd be a miracle if she could just saunter up to the second floor without Kagome seeing her and putting two and two together. Now how was he supposed to get _this_ inside….

 **XXXXX**

As she sniffled and rubbed her nose, Kagome glanced up from the lukewarm tea Ginta had so kindly provided and nearly had to do a double take. A girl who looked almost identical to Inuyasha minusthe ears had just strolled in like she owned the joint, waving and smiling to nearly every orderly there. Kagome's blue eyes followed her curiously as the girl stopped in front of the elevator, pulled out her phone and began excitedly chatting to someone as she examined her perfectly manicured nails.

The tea was quickly forgotten as Kagome got up and as casually as she could went to stand beside the eerie doppelgänger.

"Excuse me," Kagome croaked hoarsely as her heart beat erratically in her chest, "Do I know you?"

"Oh wait a second. Hold on," the girl sighed into the phone before turning towards the miko, "Sorry, you talking to me?"

Upon closer examination of the girl's face, Kagome's heart sank into her stomach. She didn't look like Inuyasha at all. The shape of her face was much different and her eyes were green for starters. Even though her hair was silver, she imagined that wasn't uncommon in demons. It was just wishful thinking that maybe...just _maybe_...

"No," Kagome sighed tearfully as she turned to return to her tea, "Just…just thought I recognized you is all."

For a moment, the girl watched her as she unsteadily made her way back to the small waiting room table until the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

"Ugh, sorry about that," the girl sighed exasperatedly into her phone as she popped onto the elevator and let the doors close behind her, "My _mom_ just interrupted me."


	23. Chapter 23

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha blinked up at the ceiling and frowned. For the life of him, he couldn't remember how he got here or where the hell he even was. Last thing he remembered was...was...

Oh god! Where the _hell_ was Kagome?

Forcing himself to sit up, Inuyasha glanced around frantically until his eyes landed on the wolf standing in the doorway and he nearly passed out from relief. It was a dream. It was only a dream.

"So mutt face, you've finally woken up," Koga grinned, "Welcome back. You died for a minute there."

"Wait, I _died_?!" Inuyasha spluttered hoarsely as he glanced down at his body and then it hit him. He didn't feel sick anymore. Sure he was still skinny as a rail and he could tell it'd be a bitch to get back into shape but his lungs were clear and the scent of illness was gone.

"You've been out so long that the illness has taken its course and after some intensive physical therapy, you'll be good as new," Koga commented casually as his lips twitched upward, "I imagine it'll take a month or so, but I expect a full recovery once it's all said and done."

"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha breathed nervously, he couldn't quite bring himself to ask if she was alright and he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. Koga gave him a sympathetic smile as he shook his head, "She's fine. You gave her quite a scare with the dying and all but I expect she'll recover from that as soon as she knows you're alright."

The lingering tension in his muscles slowly faded away as he closed his eyes and breathed a soft sigh of relief. Glancing back up at the mangy wolf, Inuyasha scratched the back of his head clearly at a loss for what to say.

"Well, thanks I guess," Inuyasha muttered awkwardly, "For everything. I...I won't forget it."

"See that you don't," Koga laughed as he turned to leave the room before glancing over his shoulder and giving Inuyasha his signature two fingered salute, "Was good to see you, Inuyasha. Don't go getting yourself killed."

 **XXXXX**

Inuyasha had just leaned back and closed his eyes when he smelled her coming down the hall. For a moment, he merely breathed in her scent as he allowed it to be a balm against his unspoken fears.

Whatever that nightmare was, he knew it was not a premonition. It would never happen. Breathing a sigh of relief, his world aligned. Just as he was her protector, she was his. There was no way in hell he'd ever allow himself to become a full demon, wish or no, and he knew, with all his heart, he'd do anything to keep her safe. Shit, he'd follow her into hell if that's what it took just as he knew she would do the same. They'd defend each other with their lives even if the odds were insurmountable. They would never betray each other or lose faith. Though life may test them, they would never abandon each other or put each other at risk. She was his and he was hers. Everything was going to be just fine because they had each other.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered as she gently pushed open the door, clearly attempting to not wake him if he wasn't awake already, "Are you up?"

Opening his amber eyes, he beamed at her and nodded before folding his arms across his chest, "Takes more than a stupid illness to kill me. Don't know what all the fuss is about."

"Right..." Kagome laughed as she rolled her eyes, "Koga told me you were doing better."

"I have to do therapy, whatever that is, but I'm not sick anymore," he sighed as she sat beside him and began to gently rub his ear.

"There are worse things," she cooed, " _Much_ worse."

Lolling his head towards her, he reached his hand up to stop her ministrations and intertwined his fingers with hers, "You've done so much for me, Kagome. More than anyone ever has. I don't think I would've made it without you."

"That's one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me," she laughed as she leaned over to give him a soft, chaste kiss.

"Whatever," Inuyasha whispered quietly against her lips. When she pulled back, he gently reached up and brushed a stray hair off her face, "Don't think I'm going soft or nothing."

"Oh I don't," Kagome laughed softly before running her fingers gently through his hair. The corners of his lips twitched upwards as he leaned in to give her another before he froze and tensed as Kagome's fingers took hold of the rosary. Faster than he could blink, his hand flew up and stilled her motion.

"Don't do that. I don't want them off," he exhaled gently as he bit his lip and averted his eyes, a faint blush on his cheeks. Kagome gave him an incredulous look before rolling her eyes, " _Why_? You haven't needed these in a long time and I _know_ you hate them."

For a minute, Inuyasha seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say as he gently released her wrist and closed his eyes.

"It's…it's the reason we're here now, I guess," he whispered softly, "If I didn't have these, I would've gotten the jewel and...and never known you."

"At least let me take the spell off. You can always keep the beads you know," Kagome teased lightly as she grinned at him. Sighing, Inuyasha nodded once. Once that was all said and done, Inuyasha gently pulled her down onto the bed and tightly against him as he buried his nose in the crook of her neck. As they drifted off the sleep, the corners their lips curved upwards and they sighed happily, basking in the blissful knowledge that everything was going to be alright.


	24. Chapter 24

**XXXXX**

 **Done For**

 **XXXXX**

Two years passed and Naraku was finally, _finally_ defeated. As Inuyasha picked up the completed jewel, he sighed and handed it to Kagome while the other members of the inutaichi watched on with baited breath.

"So...this…this is it then, huh? You...you know the well might close once we get rid of it, right?" Inuyasha whispered hesitantly before he folded his arms in front of his chest and averted his eyes, "I…I understand if…if you…"

Amber eyes widened incrementally and he trailed off when Kagome smirked at him and rolled her eyes as she gently placed the small sphere back into his palm.

"Don't be stupid," Kagome chided before laughing outright at the look of shock on his face, "Don't look so surprised either. If the well closes, it closes. My place has always been here with you. The wish is yours. Just, you know, don't ask to be a full demon or anything."

"Who's the stupid one now, huh? Full demon. Keh. As _if_ ," Inuyasha snorted as he closed his fingers around the jewel and grinned, "I've got a _much_ better idea."

 **XXXXX**

"Just remember _next_ time you call me as a medical expert, make sure you give me more than a _two_ day notice so I'm not talking out of my ass," Koga groaned as he followed the short haired hanyou out of the courthouse, "I mean, you're pretty good attorney and won this time but luck'll only get you so far."

"Yeah, yeah, stop whining. You're getting paid aren't ya?" Inuyasha growled as he loosened his tie and pulled it over his haed, "I'll buy ya a beer, and we'll call it even. How 'bout that?"

"Sounds good to me," Koga agreed good naturedly as he stretched his arms above his head, "But don't we have a party to help set up for?"

"Oh please, if Sango and Kagome haven't already decked out our house, then it'll be a cold day in hell," Inuyasha quipped back as he rolled his eyes and adjusted the shoulder strap of his briefcase, "We're in charge of drinks anyway so I don't see the harm of stopping for a few on the way home."

"You always did love to live dangerously," Koga said snidely as he snickered, "One of these days, it's going to come and bite you in the ass."

Barking out a laugh, Inuyasha rolled his eyes and shrugged, "Well it's worked out for me so far, why stop _now_?"

 **XXXXX**

As Inuyasha glanced around the crowded rooftop, he grinned and sighed happily. It'd been a stroke of genius in his opinion to wish for the jewel to disappear **_after_** it granted Kagome, his human friends and all their descendants to share the life span of a half-demon. The jewel had applied his wish liberally and in ways he really didn't expect, both good and bad. On the one hand, none of them _ever_ aged once they reached twenty five - a random side effect that took an embarrassing long while to realize - which was both a blessing and a curse on top of not being what he asked for in the _slightest_. Another downside was that he was the tie that bound. If an enemy drew blood, _everyone_ affected would spontaneously get to experience what it _felt_ like to be him and soon everyone had a newfound respect for just how high his pain tolerance really was. They'd all found that out the _hard_ way and there were times they all knew they just had to suck it up but most of the time, he took that knowledge into consideration when rushing into battle. On the _other_ hand, though...

When they walked back towards the village that day after the wish had been made, there stood none other than a flesh and blood Kikyo next to another young woman whom Inuyasha only recognized by scent. Kaede was made young and given a second chance at life just like her sister. Eventually their spouses would become encompassed by the wish as well and so their strange group of misfits grew _and_ grew _and_ grew. The only thing that threw Inuyasha for a loop was that _Rin_ was included. Once everyone got over the initial shock and generally unease when the daiyoukai took her as his bride when she came of age, they gladly brought them into the fold as the centuries rolled on.

As the centuries went on, Inuyasha realized that carrying a sword everywhere, even if it kept his demon in check, _wasn't_ going to fly anymore. One of the last things Totosai ever did was melt it down and forge a gauntlet out of the once mighty Tessaiga. It'd taken some doing but the old man had managed to find a way to retain the various attacks, though Inuyasha hadn't had a reason to use any of them in decades. Sesshomaru never got on board with destroying his father's fang and instead, opted to keep his sword on his mantle to this very day, which was a very fortunate turn of events as it turned out. Much to Inuyasha's amusement and Sesshomaru's ire, their youngest daughter had found out about a century ago that she was able to wield after her cat died and she stole the Tenseiga to try to bring it back - something even Sesshomaru's own children were unable to accomplish.

Over the years, Kagome had managed to create a way to hide more demonic features which solved the mystery of why demons had become a thing of myth. With the introduction of the industrial revolution, they were able to produce all sorts of varieties of talismans on a massive scale which is where the majority of their money now came from thanks to their patented technology. Anymore, she focused on her thriving medical practice and specialized in hanyou physiology, which Koga had recently taken a much keener interest in...all things considered. The wolf demon had also insisted that he be his friend's primary care physician just in case of a repeat occurrence, something which was unnecessary but something to which Inuyasha conceded since it helped that mangy wolf sleep better at night.

Despite having more money than they'd ever use, Inuyasha continued to practice and take cases, on a strictly pro bono basis of course. Even after all this time, he loved kicking people's asses and, though he still would never admit it, he enjoyed defending those who couldn't defend themselves. Oh, don't get the idea he was going soft. He was a shark in the courtroom and took no prisoners, which both earned clients respect while simultaneously making a lot of powerful people hate him but the glory of it was, they couldn't break him then and they sure as hell weren't able to so much as _touch_ him now.

As much as being sick and dying sucked ass, if he had to go back and do it all again, he'd go through that hot mess a thousand times if it meant he'd get to be where he was now.

 **XXXXX THE END** **XXXXX**

a/n: WELL, IT'S DONE! hopefully not too bad for my first fanfic. hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
